


Love Bites

by Inkandquills, writersstudy



Series: Roleplay Fics [7]
Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Although this story is not intended to be dark please be mindful of the triggers!, Blood, Death, Food mention/eating, Friends!Ravn/Geonhak, Imprisonment, Kidnapping, M/M, Mentions of homelessness, Toddler!Xion, Violence, implied relationship- Geonhak/Keonhee, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideations, vampire!hwanwoong, vampire!seoho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 07:22:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 45,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20702123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkandquills/pseuds/Inkandquills, https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersstudy/pseuds/writersstudy
Summary: "Love bites, love bleeds, It's bringing me to my knees. Love lives, love dies"[[PLEASE NOTE THAT WE, THE AUTHORS, HAVE NOT GIVEN PERMISSION FOR THIS WORK TO BE RE-POSTED ANYWHERE EXCEPT DIRECTLY ON AO3. IF YOU SEE THIS WORK ANYWHERE ELSE, PLEASE REPORT IT FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND NOTIFY US AT LIVING.LENIENTLY@GMAIL.COM. THANK YOU.]]





	Love Bites

**Author's Note:**

  * For [writersstudy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersstudy/gifts).

> Happy Happy Birthday to Ashlee (writersstudy)!! I'm a day late but better late than never!! Since they posted one of our stories for my birthday I thought it would be fun to do the same thing. I hope you all enjoy this story, I have a huge soft spot for it!! And go wish Ashlee a happy birthday!!
> 
> (And bonus points if you know what song is referenced in the summary)

Everything hurt. That was the first thing Hwanwoong registered, before he even opened his eyes. The second thing was that he was absolutely starving. His throat ached and he swallowed thickly before trying to talk. “Seoho?” he called out. His voice was raspy and his head swirled like he had a fever. “Seoho, what’s wrong with me?”

Seoho moved swiftly across the room when he heard Hwanwoong call for him. He settled on the edge of the bed and picked up one of Hwanwoong’s now icy hands. “I’m so sorry, my love. I wasn’t careful enough and I lost control. I couldn’t stand to lose you and the only way to save you was to turn you. I’m sorry, but I had to do it. I promise you won’t be this uncomfortable for long,” he said. 

Hwanwoong’s mind was reeling as he tried to process what had happened and he moaned pitifully. “I’m so hungry,” he complained. 

“I know, baby, I know. And I’m sorry but you can’t eat yet. I won’t be able to get you someone to feed from until night falls. You can’t do much of anything for a little while so try and rest now,” Seoho said sympathetically.

Hwanwoong whimpered in pain. His fingers curled tightly around Seoho’s. “You’re going to have to start hunting again,” he said regretfully. He knew how much his boyfriend hated that.

Seoho rubbed his thumb back and forth soothingly. “For a little while,” he said, “just until you gain enough control that we can have someone stay here permanently.”

Hwanwoong wasn’t a fan of that idea, for a variety of reasons. From an ethical standpoint, there were very, very few people who would willingly stay and feed one vampire, let alone two. From an emotional standpoint, the feedings were how his and Seoho’s relationship had begun and Hwanwoong did _ not _like to share. 

“I don’t like it either,” Seoho said knowingly, “but we don’t have a choice. Depending on what happens, we may even need to look into relocating. But that all depends on how perceptive the people are.”

Hwanwoong closed his eyes and groaned again as another wave of hunger tore through him. “Please,” he mumbled, “something, anything. I need to eat.”

Seoho sighed sadly. He glanced at the window and frowned at the small bits of sun peeking through the holes in the shade. “I’m sorry, love, but you’re going to have to wait a little while longer. The sun hasn’t set yet and your fangs haven’t come in,” he said. 

Hwanwoong groaned yet again. He could feel the ache in his jaw now, where his fangs were intent on growing. “How long will it hurt?” he asked miserably. 

“Until you eat. But you’ll feel a bit uncomfortable for a week or so while you get used to everything that’s different,” Seoho said. He felt so guilty. It was his fault that Hwanwoong was in so much pain. “I’m sorry, it’ll be over soon.”

“I bet I can’t trick my body by feeding from you either, can I?” Hwanwoong grumbled. He tugged on Seoho’s hand. If he was going to be stuck here in pain, he wanted his boyfriend as close as possible. 

“No, it doesn’t quite work that way,” Seoho said sadly. He laid down next to Hwanwoong and wrapped his boyfriend in his arms. It was odd that the younger man’s skin no longer felt blazing hot to him. This would definitely make cuddling much more enjoyable, but it would take a while to get used to. 

Hwanwoong pressed his forehead to Seoho’s shoulder, willing for the coolness of his boyfriend’s skin to ease the headache like it always did. Seoho felt warm though, or, at least, no colder than himself. 

Seoho tilted his head to press a gentle kiss to Hwanwoong’s hair. “I’m sorry, my love, I promise it won’t hurt for much longer,” he said, “I’ll leave as soon as the sun sets and I’ll be back before you know it.”

Hwanwoong sighed and forced himself to relax. He slipped in and out of sleep for the next few hours. The few times he was awake, he found himself nipping at Seoho’s neck, as if just the motions of feeding would help abate the hunger. 

Seoho laid stock still, letting Hwanwoong nip at his neck in between cat naps. If that helped distract his boyfriend, he would take it. After one particularly hard bite, Seoho could tell that Hwanwoong’s fangs were finally starting to come in. “It’s getting dark and you’re nearly ready to feed. I’m going to go hunt, and I’ll be back within the half hour,” he said. He untangled himself from Hwanwoong’s grasp and stood up. 

Hwanwoong was overjoyed when Seoho finally got up to hunt, or at least, as overjoyed as he could be in his current state. He hoped that feeding would fix everything like Seoho said. 

Seoho hated leaving Hwanwoong alone in this state, but he had no choice. He left the room and made his way through the mansion to the back door. Swiftly, he moved across the courtyard and was off to hunt. It had been a long time since he had hunted and it certainly showed by how rusty he was. Finally he found what he was looking for: someone large enough to hopefully provide enough blood for two feedings for Hwanwoong. Seoho wasted no time making sure the area was clear before rendering the person unconscious and bringing them back to his mansion. 

Hwanwoong could smell the approaching meal well before they were even on the estate grounds. He sat bolt upright in bed, somehow finding the energy to move. Seoho barely even manage to get the man in the door before Hwanwoong was on him. 

“Easy, Hwanwoong, easy,” Seoho cautioned, pulling his boyfriend back. “You’ll make yourself sick if you drain him so please be careful. I’ll pull you away if it becomes too much.”

“Just let me eat,” Hwanwoong begged, “Please, Seoho, it hurts so bad, I need to eat.”

“Be careful,” Seoho cautioned again. He released Hwanwoong but was sure to stay within arms reach. 

Hwanwoong bit deeply into the poor man’s neck, using the wall for leverage as he drank hungrily. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in years and there was nothing in the world that could possibly quench his thirst. 

Seoho steeled his nerves as the scent of blood hit his nose. He was grateful his self control wasn’t failing him now. He let Hwanwoong feed for a few minutes before pulling him off of the man.

Hwanwoong thrashed as Seoho pulled him away. He needed more! Feeding had only made him even hungrier and he needed to latch back onto his source. 

Seoho tightened his grip on Hwanwoong. Oh how he missed the days when he could tote his boyfriend around like it was nothing. “I’m sorry, love, but you have to wait a little while before feeding again. I’d never forgive myself if you got sick on top of everything.”

Hwanwoong kept fighting until he was drained of energy. Slumping in Seoho’s arms, he licked his lips for one final taste then gave up. 

Seoho relaxed when Hwanwoong slumped against him. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He pressed another soft kiss to his boyfriend’s hair. Once he was sure they had waited long enough, he released Hwanwoong again. 

Hwanwoong immediately turned around and buried his face in Seoho’s shoulder. Everything still hurt, and now he had hurt someone too. He didn’t understand how his boyfriend could handle it so calmly. 

Seoho wrapped his arms around Hwanwoong and held him close. “I’m sorry, my love, I’m sorry,” he whispered, “it’ll all be over soon.”

“I hate this,” Hwanwoong said, voice muffled in Seoho’s shirt. There was a reason he had never let Seoho turn him in all the years they’d been together, and this was one of them. 

Seoho felt a wave of guilt wash over him. He knew Hwanwoong had never wanted, would never have asked for this, but he had been selfish. In a moment of weakness, he had done the one thing he promised not to and now Hwanwoong was in so much pain and discomfort, all because of him.

Hwanwoong stepped away from Seoho, stumbling a little. He was still unsteady on his feet and probably would be until he was allowed to eat his fill. He refused to look at the man on the floor, knowing he was probably close to dead anyway. 

Seoho reached out to steady Hwanwoong. He was finally able to get a good look at his boyfriend’s face. His skin was much fairer than it was before and it almost seemed like his jawline had gotten sharper. In addition, Hwanwoong’s eyes were starting to stray from their original brown to more of a purple. He knew it wouldn’t be long before they were a brilliant red like his own. “You can feed a little bit more, but then you need some rest,” he said. 

“Please,” Hwanwoong whispered. He didn’t want to feed, but he was starving and knew he’d have no choice. 

Seoho carefully guided Hwanwoong over to the man again. “It gets easier,” he promised. What he didn’t care to divulge was that it had taken him nearly a century to get used to feeding, and that even now it could be so hard. 

Hwanwoong regretfully bit into the man’s neck again, feeding until he could barely feel a pulse anymore. He licked over the wound, hoping it might give the man a fighting chance at survival. 

Seoho helped Hwanwoong to his feet and guided him back over to the bed. He was surprised how quiet and almost listless his boyfriend was. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered. Once Hwanwoong was comfortable, he turned his attention to the man and brought him downstairs to wait until his boyfriend got hungry again.

Hwanwoong couldn’t even begin to express how little he wanted this. He loved Seoho, but he was more than content with the centuries of immortality that acting as a feeder had given him.

Seoho made sure the man was as comfortable as possible in one of the lower bedrooms before returning to where Hwanwoong was. He silently slipped into the bed and wrapped himself around his boyfriend. “It’ll all be over soon. I promise. You’ll feel so much better after you sleep,” he whispered soothingly.

“Shouldn’t I be in the basement in a coffin somewhere?” Hwanwoong joked groggily. He hoped that making light of the situation would help it pass easier. 

Seoho rolled his eyes fondly. It made him feel a little better that Hwanwoong was feeling okay enough to joke around. “If you keep making jokes like that, I will lock you downstairs,” he teased back.

Hwanwoong hit Seoho’s chest lightly. “If you think I’m mad at you now,” he threatened.

Seoho smiled sadly. “You have a lot more leverage now. Well, maybe not right this minute, but…” he trailed off, “I am truly sorry, my love. I didn’t want to hurt you like this, but I don’t know what I would have done with myself if I lost you.”

“What’s done is done,” Hwanwoong said, “I’ll figure out how to live with it someday.”

Seoho sighed sadly. He didn’t want to admit how long it would take him to get used to this. “I know the last thing you probably want right now is to be around me, but I have to stay with you for at least another day to make sure you’re okay. After that the only time I’ll have to be with you is to feed,” he said.

“I’ll be fine, babe,” Hwanwoong said, “as long as I’ve got you, I’ll be okay.”

“You’re such a sap,” Seoho said, “get some rest now, you need it. I’ll be here when you wake up and I’ll help you feed again. I promise I won’t baby you for long.”

Hwanwoong relaxed and let himself succumb again. He still felt feverish and slipped in and out of consciousness as he fought his new hunger.

Seoho kept a close eye on Hwanwoong as he slept. It was unnerving that he could no longer hear his boyfriend’s soft breathing and he had to keep reminding himself that that was okay now. 

Hwanwoong woke feeling ravenous. He shot up out of bed, already following the scent of the man’s injuries, but was thwarted by the locked bedroom door. 

Seoho was right behind Hwanwoong when he stood up. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious as to what his boyfriend would do if he let him find his food for himself. It would be good practice for when they went out to hunt. He procured the key from his pocket and unlocked the door. “Be careful,” he warned before pushing it open. 

Hwanwoong barely even registered his mad dash down to the room where the man was laying. He didn’t even bother to check if he was alive before biting into his neck deeply. 

Seoho followed Hwanwoong and watched him from the door. He wasn't worried about his boyfriend draining the man now. Hopefully this would satisfy him for the day. It was starting to get light out and Seoho didn't want to risk a trip out. 

Hwanwoong drank until there was nothing left to drink. When he was done, he dropped the body and stumbled backwards. 

Seoho stepped forward and caught Hwanwoong before he could fall to the ground. “Do you want to go back upstairs and lay down or do you want to walk around the house a little? I can’t bring you outside tonight but if you’re feeling better tomorrow we’ll go out,” he said. 

Hwanwoong leaned heavily on Seoho. “I don’t wanna be in bed anymore,” he mumbled. 

“Let’s go for a walk then. I promise you’ll feel a lot less clumsy soon,” Seoho said, guiding Hwanwoong out if the room, “I wish I could take you outside but I don’t trust your instincts not to run away with you.”

Hwanwoong shook Seoho off. He could walk fine on his own; he simply didn’t want to. He didn’t want to be in bed, but he didn’t want to move either. 

Seoho gave Hwanwoong his space. Gently, he guided his boyfriend out of the room and closed the door behind him. He could handle the man’s body later. 

Hwanwoong followed Seoho, trailing behind him and gently taking his fingers. “Did I kill him?” he asked. 

Seoho held Hwanwoong’s hand gently. “Baby, please, don’t do this to yourself,” he said. 

Hwanwoong couldn’t stop fixating. He hadn’t even properly looked at the man he had just killed. Until this moment, he had never really considered vampires to be monsters, but now he had second thoughts. 

Seoho turned around and frowned when he saw Hwanwoong’s expression. “Once you can gain some control this won’t happen as often,” he promised, “it’ll be better soon.” He knew he kept saying this but it was all he could do now.

All Hwanwoong could think about was how he hadn’t had any control over his actions at all. He had killed someone and he hadn’t even had a choice in the matter. “We’re monsters,” he gasped. 

Seoho froze. In all of their years together, Hwanwoong had been nothing but understanding and accepting. To hear his opinion so suddenly shift cut like a knife. “N-No no, we’re not monsters,” he said, “you won’t feel this way once you’ve completely adjusted.”

“I don’t want to kill people, Seoho,” Hwanwoong whispered, eyes wet and glittering.

“Hey, you won’t have to,” Seoho said gently. He grabbed both of Hwanwoong’s hands. “I won’t let you kill any more people. And once you get a little bit older, you’ll be able to control yourself.”

“I don’t even know who he was,” Hwanwoong said, “he didn’t deserve to die, not like that.”

“I know, baby, but you were in so much pain. You had to eat or the process wouldn’t have continued and I would have lost you for good,” Seoho said, “I wouldn’t be able to continue on if you suffered like that.”

“My life isn’t worth more than his,” Hwanwoong protested, “just because I’m important to you and he’s not. That’s why we started this whole thing in the first place!”

And there it was. Seoho had been trying to mentally prepare himself for how angry Hwanwoong would be with him but it wasn’t enough. “I’m sorry, Hwanwoong, I really am but you needed to feed. He’ll be the only one, I promise you,” Seoho said sincerely. 

“I think I need to be alone for a little bit,” Hwanwoong said quietly, dropping Seoho’s hand. He was questioning everything he ever knew about his lover and their life together. 

“I understand,” Seoho said, taking a step back, “call me when you’re ready.” He turned around and disappeared deep into the mansion, into the rooms he had made off limits to Hwanwoong since the day he moved here.

Hwanwoong knew Seoho didn’t want him outside, but he needed fresh air, so he made his way to one of the enclosed courtyards. The cool night breeze felt nice against his skin, which still felt feverish. He made to inhale, to take a deep breath, but he found that it felt like he was suffocating instead. 

Seoho tried to force his attention away from Hwanwoong but he couldn’t. He was too focused on his boyfriend’s footsteps through the house. He began to panic when he heard Hwanwoong go outside and he had to force himself to stay in his library where he had sequestered himself.

Hwanwoong laid outside for what felt like mere minutes, but it wasn’t long before the first rays of sunlight began to appear and he had to return to the dark of the mansion. How was Seoho not miserable?

Seoho relaxed when he heard Hwanwoong come back inside. He grabbed one of his books and took a seat on the couch, ear still trained to where his boyfriend was.

While most of Hwanwoong’s relationship with Seoho had been spent in the dark, he had at least been able to take advantage of the sunlight when he needed to, but no longer. How had Seoho managed to stay happy in all those years before they found each other?

Seoho found the methodical sound of Hwanwoong’s footsteps to be relaxing. At least he still had that. He already missed his boyfriend’s heartbeat and he hadn’t even tried to listen for it yet.

Hwanwoong finally gave up and sequestered himself in bed. He missed his boyfriend, but he also found it hard to look at Seoho right now. Just how many deaths were on his hands?

Seoho hoped that Hwanwoong would be able to get some more rest. He decided to spend the day down here. It had been a long time since he had spent a day alone although he never quite forgot what it felt like to sleep in an empty bed. 

Despite what Hwanwoong had said, he really needed Seoho to keep him distracted from his thoughts. “I need you,” he whispered to the empty room, knowing Seoho would hear. 

Seoho sat bolt upright when he heard how sad Hwanwoong sounded. Within seconds, he was upstairs and by his boyfriend’s side. “I’m right here, my love,” he said gently.

Hwanwoong lifted the blanket up, inviting his boyfriend under. Although he felt feverish, he was also freezing and the thick comforter was exactly what he needed to feel human again. 

Seoho climbed under the covers. Before he could help himself, he wrapped the younger man in a tight hug and held him close. It would take him a while to get out of the habit of being extra gentle.

“What was it like when you were first turned?” Hwanwoong asked softly. He knew Seoho didn’t like to talk about it much, but he needed to know. 

Seoho shuddered. “Horrible,” he answered honestly, “but it’s not going to be like that for you. I’m going to make sure you’re always safe and that you adjust as comfortably as possible.”

“Did you feel guilty too?” Hwanwoong asked softly. It had been a completely different time in the world when Seoho had been turned.

“Yes,” Seoho replied. _ I still do _. “But I also didn’t have anyone to help me. I didn’t understand what was happening or how to stop it. I learned eventually and as the years started to pass, it all got easier.”

That made Hwanwoong feel a little better. If Seoho could go through that and be content now with his existence, hopefully he could too. “Thank you for saving me,” he said softly. 

Seoho hadn’t been entirely sure he made the right decision until this moment. “I promise I’ll make up for all the suffering you endured,” he said, “I love you so much, Hwanwoong. There was no way I could lose you like that.”

“I would have come back as a ghost and haunted your sorry ass anyway,” Hwanwoong said with a small smile. 

Seoho smiled at that. “There’s the sassy man I fell in love with,” he said. He slowly leaned forward and kissed Hwanwoong. 

Slowly, things got easier. Hwanwoong got used to feeding and even started hunting on his own. He knew Seoho was always watching him, just to make sure he didn’t go too far, but he was obsessive about making sure he didn’t take too much. Unfortunately, it meant that people were starting to become aware of their presence. 

“We need to bring someone here permanently,” Seoho decided, “people are going to start to start searching for us soon and moving is incredibly unideal.”

Hwanwoong wanted to protest, but he knew he couldn’t. If Seoho hadn’t saved him, they wouldn’t have this problem, so it wasn’t fair for him to be a little bitch about it. “I don’t want you to go out looking alone,” he said. 

“Baby, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Seoho said, “do you remember how long we met and talked before I even told you the truth?”

“I remember, and that’s exactly why I don’t want you doing this alone,” Hwanwoong said, “look at us now.”

“I’m not going out to find someone to replace you,” Seoho assured, “we need someone here so we don’t have to keep hunting.”

“No one is going to come with us willingly, no matter how long you spend talking to them,” Hwanwoong said, “and we don’t have much time.”

“You want to kidnap someone?” Seoho asked, eyes wide, “that’s cruel and I’d hate to do that to someone.”

“I’m just saying,” Hwanwoong said with a shrug, “that’s the only way you’re going to get someone in a timely manner. It’s either that or we keep hunting.”

Seoho sighed. He didn’t like either option and they really needed a permanent supplier at the mansion. “Alright, I’ll bring someone here. But I still don’t like the idea of you coming. I don’t think you have enough control quite yet,” he said. 

“My control is fine,” Hwanwoong said crossly, “even if you try to go on your own, I’m just gonna follow you, so you might as well just take me with you.”

Seoho sighed and rubbed his forehead. “You really are insufferable sometimes,” he said, slightly annoyed, “if you slip tonight, I won’t let you back out with me again.”

“I won’t slip,” Hwanwoong said, “I even have a plan.” He’d been working a lot on his glamouring so that he could hide his true appearance from his victims, as well as subdue them easier. “You get someone alone in an alley and distract them so I can put them to sleep.”

Seoho took a deep breath. “And if this doesn’t work?” he asked. 

“We grab them and run?” Hwanwoong said, “I guarantee we’ll get away well before they can call for help.”

Seoho shook his head. “You really are too much,” he said, “but we really have no choice. We have to get this right.”

“We’ll go to the pub in town, get some guy suitably drunk, act like we’re taking him to his house, and then we snatch him,” Hwanwoong said. It seemed fairly flawless to him. 

“We’ll have to go to a pub on the other side of the city. We can’t afford to be on this side or we’ll get caught more easily if this goes south,” Seoho said. 

“That’s fine with me,” Hwanwoong said, “we should head out as soon as it gets dark.”

And that was exactly what they did. When night finally fell, they made their way to the far end of the city and found a suitable pub to go to. Hopefully, they could find someone quick.

Hwanwoong settled himself at one end of the bar while Seoho stayed toward the other. None of the people in the pub piqued his interest, and they all smelled rank anyway. They were a few hours into their night when Hwanwoong caught a whiff of the cleanest, freshest blood he’d ever smelled still in the vein. “Him,” he said under his breath, gesturing with his chin when Seoho looked up at him.

Seoho’s eyes followed Hwanwoong’s nod until they landed on the target. The man wasn’t much taller than him and was fairly attractive. It didn’t take long for Seoho to understand why his boyfriend had picked this man. He stood up and made his way over. “You come here alone?” he asked. 

Youngjo was traveling between cities for work when he decided to stop in for a drink and ask about lodging at a pub on the outskirts of one of the towns he had to pass through. He was a little surprised when he was approached by a man about his age, asking if he was alone, or he would have been if he hadn’t seen him and another man staring him down since he stepped foot in the pub. “I don’t know that there’s really a smart answer to give you, is there?” he said, “by the way the little one at the end of the bar is watching me like a hawk, I’m going to assume you’re not.”

Seoho glanced over at Hwanwoong and smirked. “He just gets a little jealous when I get to the attractive ones first,” he said, “you don’t look very familiar. From out of town, I presume?”

“That I am,” Youngjo said. There was no point in being secretive about that. 

Perfect. “You know there’s quite a few places around that are much nicer that this one. I’d be happy to show you around and give you an actual good time,” Seoho said.

Youngjo glanced at the other man at the bar again. “Is this some weird cuckolding thing for you two?” He asked, eyes narrowed.

Seoho frowned. A fighter. Well, that certainly made it more fun but also much more inconvenient. “No, no, it’s nothing like that,” he assured, “we just hate seeing new people get stuck in a dingy place like this. Oh! Pardon my manners, I haven’t even asked your name yet.”

“I’m not opposed if it is,” Youngjo said. He might as well have some fun before he had to go home. “You can call me Ravn.”

Seoho tilted his head. No wonder Hwanwoong liked this one so much. “Ravn. I quite like that. Do you always use pseudonyms when you travel?” he asked. Subtly, he began to guide Ravn towards the door.

Youngjo hummed. “Usually,” he said, “but I came here for a drink and I haven’t gotten that yet. Maybe if you buy me a drink, you’ll get what you really want.”

“I have to admit most people don’t usually play back,” Seoho commented. He waved down the bartender and ordered them each a drink.

“I’m only in town for one night,” Youngjo said with a shrug, “might as well have some fun.”

_ That’s what you think. _“What’s the point of traveling if not to enjoy new places?” Seoho said. He took the drinks from the bartender and handed one to Ravn. 

Youngjo took a sip of the drink. “You’re not going to get one for Tiny over there too?” he questioned innocently. 

“He’s cut off for the night,” Seoho said simply. He had to fight down a smile when he heard Hwanwoong scoff. His boyfriend obviously wasn’t as fond of the nickname as he was.

“Hurry it up,” Hwanwoong muttered, picking at the dish of peanuts in front of him. He did not like this Ravn character one bit and the sooner they could shut him up, the better. “Get him drunk and act like you’re taking him home or something.”

Seoho took a small sip of the drink in his hand. It was quite frankly horrible and he forced a disgusted look off of his face. He chatted Ravn up, continuing to feed him drinks while he needlessly sipped on his own. “Come on, let's get out of here,” he said, “I don’t want to waste the whole night.”

Youngjo clung to the other man’s hand, following him out into the street. His inhibitions were gone, and that was his fatal mistake. “What, he likes to interrupt?” he asked, giggling after.

“Something like that,” Seoho said with a small smile. He walked Ravn away from the pub to a quiet alley, where Hwanwoong would be waiting for them. “The walk is a bit long unless we take a few shortcuts,” he explained. 

Hwanwoong was waiting in the shadows of one of alleyways, waiting for Seoho and Ravn to pass him. Once they did, he followed behind them silently. 

“You’re a lot more easily convincible than I was led to believe,” Seoho commented. When they reached the middle of the alley, he whispered a quiet “now” to Hwanwoong.

Youngjo screamed as he was suddenly grabbed from behind and shoved against the wall of the building. The shorter man from the bar stepped out of the shadows and Youngjo shrunk back. “Th-This isn’t what I agreed to,” he said, looking between them. Hwanwoong caught his eye and tilted his head. “Sorry,” he said remorselessly. Youngjo’s vision went dark. 

Seoho carried Ravn through the shadows back to the mansion. He made sure he was as comfortable as possible in one of the spare bedrooms before going back to find Hwanwoong. “He’s not going to be very pleased with us when he wakes up,” he said unnecessarily. 

“He doesn’t need to be pleased,” Hwanwoong said, “he just needs to be alive.”

“Well, he’s still breathing, which is a good sign,” Seoho said, “If his blood wasn’t tainted by the alcohol, I’d say you could feed now. It’s not worth it though.”

“I hate that he smells so good,” Hwanwoong grumbled, “he was all over you.”

Seoho smirked. “Is someone jealous?” he teased, “although I doubt he’ll feel the same way when he wakes up.”

“You were all over him too,” Hwanwoong said, “if he didn’t smell so incredible, I wouldn’t have even let you near him.” Ravn was, to put it lightly, extremely attractive. 

“I had to be,” Seoho pointed out, “and he did smell the best out of anyone else in that pub.”

“He smells completely untainted,” Hwanwoong said, “but that doesn’t mean we baby him and make this some emotional thing.”

“It’s not going to be an emotional thing. Hopefully, we’ll be able to at least be friendly. I’d hate to see him miserable for the rest of eternity or us have to kill him and start over,” Seoho said. 

“We kidnapped him,” Hwanwoong said, “I think we kind of nipped the friendship thing in the bud.”

“Look where we are,” Seoho said, “we can at least hope for something relatively friendly. But enough about him. I want to enjoy the peace before we have to go deal with him more.”

“You didn’t kidnap me,” Hwanwoong said, “I came much more than willingly. And for all his teasing about cuckolding, I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be a fan of this.”

“No, he’s definitely not, but we’ll figure it out,” Seoho said. He reached out and took Hwanwoong’s hand so he could pull his boyfriend closer and admire his features. The younger man had always been stunning to him but even more so since he had been turned.

Hwanwoong let himself fall into Seoho’s embrace. Now that their bodies were the same temperature, it actually felt warm, which had taken some getting used to. 

Seoho held Hwanwoong close. “I love you a lot,” he said quietly, “and you’re the only one I’ll ever love.”

“I love you too,” Hwanwoong whispered, “but eternity is a long time.”

“And I’m so happy I can spend it with you,” Seoho said. He kissed the top of Hwanwoong’s head. “Meeting you was by far the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Hwanwoong wondered how many centuries it would take for Seoho to regret that statement. They’d only spent a little over one together. 

Seoho let the silence envelope them. A little while later he heard some noise from the bedroom Ravn was in. “Come on, let’s go check on him,” he said. 

Youngjo woke up in a pitch black room. He was laying on what seemed to be a bed, but he was scared to look around, scared of what he might find. Were these men going to kill him?

Seoho felt guilty when he could smell the man’s fear. He knocked on the door before entering to alert him to their presence. “I’m really sorry we had to do this and I know you won’t believe me but we really don’t intend to kill you,” he said. 

“What do you want from me?” Youngjo asked, trying to appear tough. It was more for his own sake than anything.

“Just you,” Seoho said cryptically, “it would actually be at our disadvantage to kill you. In exchange for you staying with us, we’ll provide anything you may need. You’ll no longer have to work and you’ll have free run of the mansion. Unfortunately, if you do try to escape, we will have to kill you.”

“No,” Youngjo said, “no, I-I can’t stay here! You fucking kidnapped me! You’re both psychopaths.”

“I’m sorry but you can’t leave,” Seoho said apologetically, “you’ve already seen too much and we can’t afford to not have a supplier here.”

“You can’t just keep me here!” Youngjo cried, “that’s insane! I’m not supplying you _ shit _.”

“We don’t want sex if that’s what you’re worried about,” Seoho said. He stepped closer to the bed so Ravn could get a better look. “We have to keep someone here. The town is starting to get suspicious and I’d hate to have to move again. I quite like it here.”

Youngjo shrank back when the taller of the two men took a step toward him. “I have people who will look for me,” he said, “you can’t keep me here for long.”

Seoho pitied Ravn, he really did. “Those people will not find you,” he said, “and if they do they will not make it off of this property alive.”

It was starting to dawn on Youngjo that he really wasn’t going to get out of this. “Why me?” he asked in a small voice. 

“You were easily the prettiest person that we saw all night. And you smell absolutely enticing, although I can assure you it has nothing to do with the cologne you’re wearing,” Seoho said. 

Youngjo looked between the two men, between the taller one’s attempt to be placating and the shorter one’s blatant stare of contempt. “He doesn’t want me here,” he said shakily. 

Seoho glanced at Hwanwoong. “He is a bit jealous, yes. He was in your position not too long ago, although it was a much more mutual agreement. And I also have to admit, he was the one that spotted you first,” he said. “Play nice,” he muttered under his breath. 

“What is this?” Youngjo questioned, “what do you want from me?” All he had been trying to do was to get home, not get caught up in whatever cult this was showing to be. 

“We need you to stay alive,” Seoho said, “I know it seems ridiculous but I presume you’ve read plenty of books, all very poorly written I must say, about creatures who drink blood. I know you have some odd humans that do that too but I can assure you that is not us.”

“We’re vampires,” Hwanwoong cut in, tired of Seoho dodging around the fact, “and we’re going to keep you here to use as a blood source so we don’t get hunted down by an angry mob. You can either deal with it, or you can die. Your choice.”

“Hwanwoong, knock it off,” Seoho hissed quietly. “Yes, we need to be less conspicuous and having someone here permanently allows us to do that. With being our source, you will develop an immortality akin to ours but that is the only trait you will gain,” he added, loud enough that Ravn could hear.

Youngjo was properly terrified now. He really was trapped here, at least until he could figure out how to get away. God, what was going to become of Dongju when Youngjo never showed up?

“I know it’s a lot to happen so quickly but you’ll adjust in time,” Seoho said, “and you do have to earn the privilege to wander around the mansion. It shouldn’t take much though. You don’t seem stupid enough to try and fight.”

Hwanwoong rolled his eyes and tugged on Seoho’s arm. “If you’re hungry, just get it over with,” he complained, “I’m bored.”

“Then go do something else,” Seoho said, “I don’t want to feed with him still on edge like this. I’ll just wait until tomorrow morning.”

“If you wait until he’s not on edge, you’ll never eat again,” Hwanwoong said. Turning his gaze back to Ravn, he had him glamoured and calm within seconds. “Just eat already.”

Seoho sighed. He approached the bed slowly, much more cautiously than he usually approached someone. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he leaned down and gently bit into Ravn’s neck. 

Youngjo whimpered in pain as teeth punctured his neck, but he couldn’t even move a millimeter. He could feel himself getting dizzy, but he couldn’t tell if it was the blood loss, the enchantment, or the shock. 

Seoho drank slowly, not wanting to overwhelm Ravn. He finally pulled away and licked the drop of blood that had leaked out of the wounds off of the man’s neck. “I promise it won’t hurt for much longer,” he said. 

Youngjo gasped as the enchantment finally let go of him. His hand came up to clutch at the wound on his neck. 

“You won’t bleed out,” Seoho assured. He took a few steps back from the bed and looked over at Hwanwoong. “If there’s nothing else you need, I think we should let Ravn rest.”

Hwanwoong snorted. “C’mon, babe, let's go upstairs,” he said, “it’s nearly daybreak.”

“I’ll bring you down something to eat and drink in the morning. For now, you should probably get some sleep,” Seoho said. He gestured for Hwanwoong to leave the room ahead of him and was sure that the door was locked before following his boyfriend upstairs. 

Sleep? Absolutely not. There was no way Youngjo was letting his guard down with those two monsters trapping him like this. He got up from the bed and immediately went to check the window. 

Seoho sighed when he heard Ravn walk towards the window. “If he tries to escape, you’re the one that’s going to bring him back,” he said to Hwanwoong. 

“That’s fine,” Hwanwoong said, “we need to break him somehow. Might as well let him get as far as he can before just dragging him back like it’s nothing.”

Seoho hummed. Hwanwoong was taking this much farther than he originally anticipated. “I think I’m going to go read for a little while,” he said after a minute. He turned around to give Hwanwoong a swift kiss on the cheek. 

To Youngjo’s surprise, and immediate suspicion, the window slid open immediately, and soundlessly as well. It was basement level, so he hoisted himself up and pulled himself out onto the ground. Trying to be as quiet as possible, he snuck around the grounds, sticking to the shadows. The second he hit the woods, he was in a dead sprint. 

Seoho was not surprised when he heard Ravn take off across the property. He was even less surprised when Hwanwoong was hot on his tail. His boyfriend was definitely going to treat this like a hunt and he trusted Hwanwoong to bring Ravn back in one piece. Settling himself in his library, he picked up a book and distracted himself by reading. 

Hwanwoong followed Ravn at a leisurely pace. When the man stopped at what he foolishly thought was a safe enough distance, the short vampire gave him a moment to catch his breath before stepping out from behind a tree. “Boo,” he said, making Ravn jump and shriek. Hwanwoong was on him before he could even breath, shoving his back into a tree so hard that the bark cracked. 

Seoho couldn’t help but overhear Ravn’s struggle. It was faint and he was impressed the man had made it as far as he did. Hopefully, Hwanwoong didn’t scare him too much. They needed him mentally in one piece too. 

“I wish I could say I can’t believe you thought you could get away from us, but that would be wildly overestimating your intelligence,” Hwanwoong said, “I didn’t even break a sweat chasing you this far; just imagine how little I would suffer if I had to chase you clear across the country. You’re _ ours, _Ravn. Sorry.” His voice clearly showed no care or remorse. 

“Hwanwoong, please save the taunting for an actual hunt,” Seoho said. He didn’t want Ravn to hate them even more than he already did.

Hwanwoong rolled his eyes. Of course Seoho wanted to be nice and kind to the poor man they were torturing, as if that made any of this better. “Butt _ out _,” he muttered. 

“If you let your hot head ruin this, I will not be pleased,” Seoho warned, “think about your next moves carefully.” 

“Look, I sympathize, I do,” Hwanwoong said, turning his attention back to Ravn and hoping Seoho got the message to let this conversation stay private. “I’m sure you’ve got family or friends somewhere, but I’m going to be honest. If it’s between his survival and yours, I’m not even going to hesitate. He’s got these lofty ideas that being kind and coddly with you is going to make you somehow okay with what we’re doing, but I’m not stupid. You and I both know that this is fucked up. Mine and his entire existence is fucked up. There’s no point in pretending like this is going to get any better for you, so I’m not going to.”

Seoho stilled. Hwanwoong was right. As much as he hated to admit it, he wasn’t going to lie to himself. His words stung a little but he shook them off and tried to refocus on his book.

Hwanwoong was so close, _ so close _, to letting Ravn get away, but he knew Seoho would be on them both in seconds. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he said with a sigh, taking a step back from Ravn.

Seoho was less confident in his decision to send Hwanwoong but it was too late now. Hopefully, both men returned home soon so he could finally relax. 

Youngjo didn’t want to go back, didn’t want to willingly let them do this to him. When he didn’t move, Hwanwoong sighed and glamoured him once more. 

Seoho lost himself in his book when everything finally fell silent. He had read this tale almost one hundred times at this point but he still wasn’t tired of it. It was one of his favorite books of all time and always his go to when he needed a distraction. 

Hwanwoong deposited Ravn in the room that was now his, making sure the window was shut tightly before going to find Seoho. “I can’t do that again,” he admitted, “if he runs again, I’m not going to stop him.”

“Fine, I can stop him,” Seoho said easily, “go get some rest and I’ll keep an ear on him. I doubt he’ll try anything else tonight. If he was smarter, he would have waited ‘til morning.”

“Why can’t we just do something to keep him from running in the first place?” Hwanwoong asked, “it’ll be better for all of us.”

“Well, did you make sure he can’t open that window anymore?” Seoho asked, not looking up from his book.

“I closed it, but I didn’t have anything to bolt it with,” Hwanwoong said, “and a bolt can be taken out anyway.”

“If he tries to escape again, I’ll put him in a more secure room that he won’t be able to get out,” Seoho said.

“Why even give him the hope?” Hwanwoong asked.

“Because he’ll eventually learn to just stay. I don’t want to keep him locked up if I don’t have to. 

That’s cruel,” Seoho said. 

Hwanwoong sat up as he heard the window slide open downstairs. “I think you might have to,” he said. 

Seoho rubbed his forehead and set his book down. He headed downstairs and opened the door to the bedroom just as Ravn swung one leg over the sill. “Are you really going to try this again? I hate to see you waste so much energy just to end up back here,” he said. 

Youngjo nearly fell out the window when the door suddenly opened. “I _ can’t _stay here,” he said desperately. 

“You don’t have a choice in the matter. Now come back inside before I have to bring you somewhere much less comfortable,” Seoho said. He was not in the mood to argue with Ravn. 

Youngjo almost gave in, almost let them have him, but he couldn’t. He tumbled out the window and took off in a sprint. 

Seoho was on Ravn in a second, not even letting the man have the satisfaction of escape like Hwanwoong did. He swiftly tackled the man to the ground and pinned his arms down. “Now you have two choices, either I kill you here or I bring you inside,” he growled, “and I will feel no remorse if you choose death.”

Youngjo didn’t want to die, not while Dongju still needed him. He collapsed under the vampire, a sob catching in his throat. 

“That’s what I thought,” Seoho said. He hauled Ravn to his feet and brought him back to the mansion. Instead of bringing him back to the same room, he brought him to a much less comfortable room. “You’ll stay here until you learn not to escape or I get fed up with you,” he said, shoving Ravn into the room none too gently.

Youngjo fell to the ground when the vampire shoved him, scraping his palms in the process. The new room was windowless, and he flinched as he heard the deadbolt slide. He would just have to wait until one of them came to eat, or to feed him. 

Seoho went upstairs to find Hwanwoong. “I don’t think he’s going to be escaping again anytime soon,” he said.

“You didn’t have to be so rough with him,” Hwanwoong said, “there’s clearly a reason he’s trying so hard to get away.”

Seoho just looked at Hwanwoong. “You let him run all the way into the forest and treated it like a hunt,” he said, “and like you said earlier. No one’s going to be willing to stay here with us.”

Hwanwoong rolled his eyes. “When I said we need to break him, I didn’t mean physically.”

“He’s not physically hurt,” Seoho scoffed, “just a little roughed up. He’ll be fine. Nothing worse than a few bite marks to the neck anyway.”

Hwanwoong frowned. It wasn’t like he enjoyed not being able to care for Ravn’s mental well-being, but Seoho just didn’t seem to care at all.

Seoho watched Hwanwoong closely. “You’re not getting attached are you?” he asked, “because you threatened him yourself earlier and you didn’t seem to care about him then.”

“Of course I’m not attached,” Hwanwoong scoffed, “but the better condition we keep him in, the better it’ll be for all of us.”

Seoho hummed. “We’ll see how he is when I bring him down some food. I’d really hate to kill him but if he keeps getting on my nerves I just might. I doubt we’ll find someone as pretty though,” he said. 

Hwanwoong scowled. “Whether or not he’s pretty doesn’t matter,” he said. 

“Still a little jealous I see,” Seoho teased, “just don’t take that out on him. I don’t think it’d end very well.”

“Would you rather I take it out on you?” Hwanwoong teased back, resting a hand on Seoho’s waist. 

Seoho chuckled quietly. “Do you even have it in you to take it out on me?” he challenged.

“Not tonight,” Hwanwoong admitted, “I need to eat again before I can manage that.”

“Even after you’ve eaten, I’d like to see you try,” Seoho said, getting one last dig in, “although it will be best to wait to feed until he’s eaten something himself.”

“I know, I’m not planning on going down there until at least tomorrow,” Hwanwoong said, “we should bring him some sort of light too, if only so he doesn’t go crazy.”

“I suppose we should. I’m sure we could bring a lamp down there. Or move him to a bedroom with a window that he can’t get out of,” Seoho said. 

“You can clean up the window when he breaks it,” Hwanwoong said with a snort. Downstairs, Youngjo already felt like he was going crazy. The room was pitch black and he had squeezed himself into what felt like the corner, curling into a ball. 

“There’s a room that still has bars over the glass. He won’t be able to break it,” Seoho said, “not that he’d try to escape again anyway.” He could hear Ravn’s heart racing and he almost felt bad the man was so terrified. 

Youngjo had no idea what time it was when the door scraped open and light flooded the room. He hadn’t even had a sense of where the door was. He flinched back into his corner.

Seoho tsked when he saw Ravn cower into the corner of the room. “I brought you some breakfast,” he said, “and I have another room that you can stay in that isn’t so dark. But Hwanwoong needs to eat before I can bring you anywhere.”

“What’s in it?” Youngjo asked, hesitating to reach for the bowl he was being offered. He vaguely registered that Hwanwoong must be the shorter of the two vampires.

“It’s just some plain oatmeal. I do have some fruit upstairs too. I’m sorry I don’t have much here at the moment but if you cooperate I’ll be happy to get you whatever you like to eat,” Seoho said. 

Youngjo took the bowl, still a little nervous to eat it, but he was starving. He tried not to seem so desperate as he ate, but it was the first food he’d had in nearly two days. 

“I don’t want to overwhelm you now but I can bring some more down in a little while for you if you’d like,” Seoho said. He traded Ravn the empty bowl for a glass of water he had also brought down.

“That’s enough,” Youngjo mumbled. The last thing he wanted was to make him angry and get himself killed. 

“I have lived with humans before and I can say that most certainly isn’t enough,” Seoho said, “I’ll bring some more down in a couple of hours.”

Youngjo’s breath caught in his throat at the idea of being alone in the dark again. He’d rather Hwanwoong come feed now, even if it meant he passed out. 

Seoho paused when Ravn’s heart rate began to pick up again. “Hwanwoong, come down now,” he called, “I want to move him to a different room.”

Hwanwoong took his time going downstairs to where Seoho was keeping Ravn. As much as he needed to feed, he didn’t particularly want to. “Can we move him first? I can’t see shit.”

“Hwanwoong, I know you can see just fine so if you’re going to make excuses, please at least make them believable,” Seoho said. He turned his attention to Ravn. “Come on, let me show you to a different room.” He hauled the man to his feet and guided him down the hallway.

Youngjo wanted to protest the rough treatment, but anything was better than being trapped in that dark, empty room. Hwanwoong just rolled his eyes and followed the pair. He had never seen Seoho be so cold with someone. 

Seoho led Ravn into the new, and hopefully last, room. It was about as comfortable as the last except this one had a small window high on the wall. It let plenty of light in with no way of letting Ravn escape. “I hope this will be a little bit better,” he said. 

“It isn’t pitch black,” Youngjo said with a shudder. He wasn’t going to try anything with the two vampires standing right there, but he knew he could make it to that window if he tried. 

Seoho hummed. “He’s all yours, Hwanwoong. I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” he said. He glanced at Ravn one more time before taking the empty bowl with him up to the kitchen. 

Youngjo didn’t relax when the taller vampire left, but he didn’t need to anyway. Within moments of glancing at Hwanwoong, he found himself glamoured once more. It was deeper this time, leaving him unresponsive and nearly unconscious as the vampire bit into him. 

Seoho washed the dish and set it on the counter to dry. He knew Ravn would need to eat more than just oatmeal but he was not looking forward to cooking. The older he got, the more repulsed he was by the smell of food, especially anything with strong flavors. Hopefully Hwanwoong would still be up for cooking.

Hwanwoong didn’t like having to charm Ravn, but it was the only way to make it as painless as possible for both of them. Ravn wouldn’t feel anything in the moment, and Hwanwoong could pretend he wasn’t feeling anything at all. 

Seoho was glad that he didn’t hear any struggling. He was going to give Ravn a break for now. Only Hwanwoong would feed off of him until he was considerably more calm being here. After last night, he would be okay for a while. 

“I’m sorry we have to do this to you,” Hwanwoong murmured when he had finally drank his fill, “but I won’t be feeding again for a while, so it won’t be as bad, I promise.”

Seoho sighed. He wasn’t surprised Hwanwoong felt the same way as he did but the fledgling couldn’t afford to go much longer than a day without feeding. That would be an interesting conversation to have.

Hwanwoong didn’t release the glamour on Ravn until after he was out of the room. It meant he didn’t have to see the way the man’s eyes teared up and he simply laid on the bed in defeat. 

Seoho went to find Hwanwoong when he heard him leave the room. “Did you lock the door behind you?” he asked. 

“No, Seoho, I’m a fucking idiot,” Hwanwoong said sarcastically, “I know that I’m a lot newer to this than you are, but you don’t have to act like I don’t know what I’m doing and haven’t been around it for the last century or so.”

“Hwanwoong, please, I am not in the mood for your attitude right now. I know you have a lot of experience but there are still things you don’t know that I have to worry about. Like the fact that you can’t wait weeks between feedings like I can,” Seoho said. 

“Maybe not, but I’m going to wait as long as I possibly can,” Hwanwoong said. He was actually planning on hunting instead; one of them was much less conspicuous than two.

“You can’t wait longer than 24 hours at this point,” Seoho said gently, “we’ll give him a little break and just have him feed you until he finally adjusts to being here.”

Hwanwoong rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever,” he agreed, to get Seoho off his back. 

Seoho narrowed his eyes slightly. “What is going on with you? I know everything’s been a lot to adjust to but you’ve been a lot moodier than usual lately. And you haven’t come talk to me about any of it,” he said. 

Hwanwoong sighed heavily. “I know it was my idea, but I hate it,” he admitted, “I wish we had had the time to find someone who actually wants to be here.”

Seoho bit his tongue. Oh, how badly he wanted to tell Hwanwoong he told him so. “Well, we have a couple of options. We kill him and start over, we force him to suck it up for the eternity, or we let him go and hope he says nothing, but the likelihood of that happening is very slim,” he said. 

Hwanwoong sighed again. None of those options sounded particularly pleasant. “I’m sure I’ll stop feeling guilty eventually,” he said quietly. 

Seoho’s expression softened. “Come here,” he said gently, reaching out for Hwanwoong. “I know this isn’t an ideal situation, but we’ll make it work. We always do.”

“I just don’t want him to be miserable for the rest of eternity. That won’t make anyone happy,” Hwanwoong said sadly. 

“It’s going to be an adjustment for all of us but we’ll get there eventually,” Seoho said soothingly. 

Hwanwoong sighed heavily. Hopefully, Ravn would come around eventually. Until then, they just had to stay firm. 

Seoho pulled Hwanwoong against himself and hugged his boyfriend gently. “I know it’s hard, baby, I know. We’ll all get used to it soon and everything’s going to go back to normal.”

Things did not go back to normal. Ravn didn’t become any more complacent at all. Hwanwoong glamoured him every time he needed to eat, because otherwise the man would just hide himself in the corner of the room. 

Seoho went as long as he could without feeding. When he started to feel weaker, he drew the line. Ravn still hadn’t adjusted to living with them and he didn’t want to put anymore stress on the man. When night fell, he slipped out of the mansion and went to hunt.

Youngjo had finally figured out how to boost himself up to the window. Because of its position and it’s lack of glass, he could hear when either of the vampires left the building. Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell which was which, so it was a crapshoot as to who he was waiting on to leave. He was hoping it was the taller one, who he hadn’t seen since being locked in the room. As soon as he heard the door slide shut, he carefully moved a nightstand near the window and climbed up. 

Seoho was sloppy, he knew he was. His focus was all over the place and he had already had two near misses. He debated going back to the mansion and just feeding from Ravn but he spotted a hiker in search of the sunset and made his move. 

Hwanwoong sat in the window, watching as Ravn toppled out of the tiny window across the yard. The drop was clearly farther than he anticipated, because he laid on the ground for a few moments, stunned. Hwanwoong wondered if it was worth letting him try to run. “If Seoho finds out you’re trying to escape again, he’ll kill you,” he called out. 

It took all of Seoho’s self control not to drain the hiker. He wasn’t used to going this long between feedings and it was proving dangerous. Barely covering up his traces, he headed back to the mansion. 

Youngjo disregarded Hwanwoong’s warning. “Are you gonna stop me?” He panted, standing up. Hwanwoong considered it for a moment then shook his head, prompting Youngjo to take off for the woods. 

Seoho was still in a haze when he got back to the mansion. As he got closer he could have sworn he heard footsteps. He almost would have thought it was his mind playing tricks on itself until he remembered Ravn’s determination to escape. Growling quietly to himself, he took off after the footsteps. 

Youngjo kept close to the trees, even climbing them when he thought Seoho might be close. He was using the stars to keep himself heading in the right direction. He was going to get away this time. 

Seoho was impressed by Ravn’s efforts to avoid him. He could understand why Hwanwoong let him run the first time. Speaking of Hwanwoong…. “Why did you let him escape?” he asked. 

“I told you I wasn’t going to chase him again,” Hwanwoong said, “plus, he’s clearly been planning this a lot. He’s being so careful. Imagine how he’s going to feel when you catch him. It might be exactly what we need.”

Seoho let Ravn run for a few more minutes. When he climbed up another tree, Seoho planted himself at the bottom of it. “Your efforts are admirable, I have to say,” he commented tiredly.

Youngjo froze. If he stayed stock still, maybe Seoho would think he was just a spooked animal, a squirrel or something. It was wishful thinking, but he was determined. 

“Ravn, I am centuries old and have near perfect eyesight in the dark, you are not fooling me,” Seoho said, “I will admit, climbing trees is no longer my forté, but if you do not come down on your own I will make an exception.” The sun was close to rising and he could not afford to be out for much longer.

Youngjo could see the sky lightening. If he could keep himself away from Seoho for another half an hour, he might actually be able to get away. Shifting slightly, he waited then jumped, hitting Seoho in the chest with his feet and taking off, jumping up into another tree and swinging through the treetops like a monkey, a true testament to his bandit upbringing. 

Seoho heard Ravn jump out of the tree but was not expecting to be kicked in the chest. He fell backwards onto the ground, surprised by the man’s attack. Eyes narrowing, he pushed himself to his feet and tore after Ravn, not hesitating to climb the next tree after him. 

Youngjo could feel Seoho right on his trail, but he had the advantage. He ducked and turned through the trees, climbing as high as he could to be closer to the sun when it finally crested the mountains. As long as he didn’t tire first, he was safe. 

Seoho knew exactly what Ravn was doing. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was still worth it. He decided against it, not entirely sure if he had blown his chance.

Youngjo didn’t have much higher could do in the trees without breaking through the tops and losing his leverage. He could still hear Seoho right behind him, so he didn’t slow down, but the adrenaline was wearing off and he was starting to get winded. The last thing he expected was to suddenly get tackled mid-swing and hit the ground with a grunt. _ Hwanwoong _. 

Seoho leapt to the ground after Ravn. He crossed his arms and stood there with a scowl on his face. “Nice of you to join us,” he snarked. 

Youngjo thrashed, trying to throw Hwanwoong off of him. He kept his eyes tightly closed, having figured out that the vampire needed eye contact to glamour him. He was _ so close _.

“Come on. Let’s get him home before the sun comes up,” Seoho said. He walked over to Ravn and grabbed one of his arms. 

Hwanwoong rolled off of Ravn and grabbed the other arm. “He got pretty close this time,” he said, “probably would’ve gotten away if I hadn’t come to help you.”

Seoho let the remark roll off of him like water. “It would have just made hunting for him tomorrow night that much more fun,” he said. 

Youngjo kept fighting. Eventually, he managed to get his arm out of Seoho’s grip and used the leverage to pull away from Hwanwoong as well. He didn’t manage to get far before he was caught again and he screamed as he went down.

Seoho decided that enough was enough. He bit into Ravn’s neck, drinking just enough to render the man too weak to fight them anymore. 

Youngjo sobbed as he felt himself being drained. It was a terrible feeling. This was it; he was going to die. 

Seoho pulled away from Ravn’s neck when he was satisfied and hauled the man to his feet again. The first rays of sunlight had just hit and they rushed back to the mansion. In his haste, he was unable to dodge one beam of light and winced when he felt the skin on his cheek burn. It was already starting to blister by the time they made it inside. 

Hwanwoong was done putting up with Ravn. Seoho had almost gotten killed trying to catch him and that was too far. He all but dropped the listless man on the floor of his room and went to find the heaviest chain he could find. 

“Hwanwoong, what are you doing?” Seoho asked when he saw the chain, “you know that’s going too far.”

“He almost got you killed,” Hwanwoong said coldly, “I’m done playing games.” He latched one end of the shackle around the bedpost and the other around Ravn’s foot. 

“I didn’t almost get killed,” Seoho said, “you don’t need to do this to him. As long as you didn’t get hurt, it’s okay. I doubt he’ll be pulling any new stunts for a while.”

“It’s _ not _ ,” Hwanwoong said firmly, “after everything you did and everything I went through, I’m not letting _ him _take you away from me. He would have killed you if I hadn’t intervened.”

“He wouldn’t have killed me,” Seoho said gently. He knew there was no convincing Hwanwoong now so he would have to wait until later to take the chain off. 

“He was literally trying to burn you to a crisp,” Hwanwoong said. He was done being the nice guy, done trying to sympathize. Ravn was no longer a person to him; he was simply a blood bag. 

“Hwanwoong, don’t let your hot head get in the way of making rational decisions,” Seoho cautioned, “I would have come home before it was too late. Let’s leave him down here, unchained, and we’ll figure out what to do when you’ve calmed down.”

“I am calm,” Hwanwoong said firmly, all but dragging Ravn onto the bed and leaving him flopped there, “I’m done giving him second chances.”

“You are not calm,” Seoho countered, “I’m done giving him second chances too but we’re not monsters. If you insist on the chain, it stays on for less than 24 hours or so help me, I’ll put _ you _ in it.”

“Why do you even care?” Hwanwoong asked sharply, “you were the one threatening to kill him from the beginning.”

“I didn’t expect him to run like this,” Seoho admitted, “and last I knew, you didn’t want to break him physically.”

“And I’m not,” Hwanwoong said, “the shackle isn’t even tight. But I’m not taking the risk of him running you into the sun again.”

“Fine, that chain is only to be used during the day,” Seoho said. He glanced at Ravn one last time before disappearing upstairs. He locked the door to the bathroom and finally got a good look at his cheek. It looked worse than it felt but Seoho hadn’t been burned like this in a long time. Unfortunately, human remedies didn’t work on his skin so the only thing he could do was cover it and wait for it to heal.

“Only to be used during the day,” Hwanwoong mocked under his breath as he locked the door. It was well past his bedtime and he wasn’t going to waste any more precious hours on Ravn. 

Seoho ignored Hwanwoong’s comment. He bandaged his cheek and disappeared deep into his mansion where his boyfriend wouldn’t come looking for him. 

Hwanwoong curled up in bed, absolutely furious. Seoho clearly cared more about how some stupid human blood bag felt than his own boyfriend. How kind of him. 

Seoho gave Hwanwoong plenty of space. When night fell again, he made some food and went down to the room Ravn was being held in. “Maybe I’m a bleeding heart, maybe I’m crazy. Whatever it is, I don’t want you in this chain longer than necessary,” he said. He unlocked the chain from Ravn’s ankle and handed him the bowl.

Youngjo didn’t say anything and didn’t move other than to pull his leg up to his chest and rub at his ankle. It was becoming clear to him now that he really wasn’t going to get home. What would happen to his son?

“You need to eat,” Seoho said gently. He glanced down at Ravn’s ankle. “I’m sorry it’s come to this but if you just stayed with us from the beginning, you would be much more comfortable here.”

“You realize how fucking psychotic you sound, right?” Youngjo asked quietly, “I’m not hungry.”

“Is starving yourself your new escape method?” Seoho asked. He set the bowl on the desk in the corner of the room. 

“It should be,” Youngjo grumbled, “but no, I’m just not hungry.” He was too upset to eat anything, and still very woozy.

“I leave this here for you then,” Seoho said. He dawned on him that he hadn’t brought down anything to drink. In a matter of seconds, he had gone upstairs and returned with a glass of water that he set down next to the bowl.

Youngjo briefly considered asking for some parchment to write a letter, but he decided against it. Maybe it was better for Dongju to think he was dead instead of abandoning him. 

“If I were you, I wouldn’t do anything to piss off Hwanwoong any further,” Seoho said, “if you don’t need anything else, I’ll see you in the morning when I come to put the chain back on.”

Youngjo just nodded dumbly. He didn’t even care anymore. If they had thwarted him today, he was never going to get far enough ahead of them. It would be better for him to just stop fighting and let this all happen. At least his son would be safe from them. 

Seoho locked the door and went to go lay down. If Ravn escaped today, he wouldn’t go after the man. It wasn’t worth it anymore.

Hwanwoong woke up somewhere around midnight, feeling absolutely ravenous. He practically tore down the stairs in his haste to reach Ravn. “Come here, I need your neck,” he demanded when he entered the bedroom. Ravn didn’t move. 

Seoho couldn’t sleep, even as exhausted as he was. He killed time changing the bandage on his cheek and cleaning parts of the mansion but nothing helped. What he really needed was Hwanwoong but his boyfriend definitely still needed space. 

Annoyed, Hwanwoong grabbed Ravn and dragged him upright, biting into him harshly. The human whimpered in pain. At least he was alive. 

“Hwanwoong, please,” Seoho begged before he could stop himself. While it was usually very convenient that his boyfriend could hear him across the house now, it wasn’t in this instance. 

Hwanwoong ignored Seoho, drinking until he was full. Ravn was probably paler than was safe, but it didn’t matter as the vampire left the room moments later, slamming the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, Youngjo leaned over the side of the bed and threw up. 

“Hwanwoong, go take care of him,” Seoho said firmly, “and I’m not taking no for an answer. You did this to him and you need to fix it so he doesn’t resent us for eternity.”

“What was that? You’re breaking up, bad connection,” Hwanwoong retorted, already halfway off the estate. He needed to be anywhere but here.

“I swear to God, Hwanwoong, I brought you into this world and I will take you out of it,” Seoho shouted angrily, “don’t come back until you fix your attitude; I don’t care how long it takes.” He went back downstairs to try and take care of Ravn. 

Youngjo couldn’t help it. He started to cry. Everything hurt, both physically and emotionally. He just wanted to go home and be with his son. Was that so much to ask?

Seoho frowned when he heard Ravn crying. “Hey, hey, you’re going to make yourself dehydrated,” he said, walking over to the bed.

Youngjo pulled away from Seoho as forcefully as he could without passing out. “Go away,” he sobbed. 

Seoho sighed. “Ravn, you need to calm down. You’re going to make yourself sick again,” he said. He backed away anyway.

“Good,” Youngjo cried, “maybe then this will all end sooner.”

“Ravn, you don’t want to die like this, trust me,” Seoho said gently, “I understand that you hate me, and that you always will, but I swear that I don’t want to see you suffer.”

“You made me like this!” Youngjo finally snapped, “you did this to me and now you have the _ balls _ to say you don’t want me to suffer? _ Fuck you _.”

“I never wanted you to suffer because I know being stuck here is agony enough. But you and I both know we’re well past that. I still don’t want you to die but if you do, I will not turn you to save you,” Seoho said.

“Good,” Youngjo spat, “I’d rather be dead than spend an eternity with the two of you.”

“I don’t blame you,” Seoho said quietly. There was no reason for him to be down here any longer. Wordlessly, he grabbed the chain and attached it to Ravn’s leg. “Get some rest. I’ll be back down when I get hungry,” he said, before leaving the room and locking the door. 

Youngjo wished he could go back to that night and simply keep traveling. If he had never stopped at that pub, he’d be home with Dongju by now. He missed his baby more than anything.

Seoho didn’t know how long it would be before Hwanwoong came home. As night crawled on, he began to get more and more worried. His boyfriend didn’t know what to do in the sun and he couldn’t stand the thought of the younger man burning.

Hwanwoong was angry, and he decided to burn off that anger by taking it out on some poor traveler. By the time he snapped out of it, the man was nearly empty and he very desperately needed Seoho’s help. Fighting the clock, he just barely managed to get the man and himself back to the mansion before the sun came up. 

Seoho was relieved when he heard footsteps approaching the mansion. That relief disappeared when he heard the faint heartbeat of whoever Hwanwoong was carrying. “Why did you bring another person here?” he asked, meeting his boyfriend in the front room.

“You have to do something!” Hwanwoong begged, “I didn’t mean to go this far and now he’s gonna die!”

Seoho’s eyes widened. He took the man out of Hwanwoong’s arms and laid him on the couch in the sitting room. His heartbeat was slowing down and there was nothing Seoho could do to save him. “I’m sorry, but the only thing I can do is make his death painless and quicker,” he said. 

“You could turn him,” Hwanwoong said breathlessly, “it has to be kinder than letting him suffer. Please, I can’t have another life on my hands, Seoho.”

Seoho paused. “Hwanwoong, having another vampire here will be so dangerous,” he said quietly. He didn’t have much time and he didn’t want his boyfriend to live with the guilt. Making a decision, he turned back to the man and sunk his teeth into his neck. Instead of drinking like he usually did, he let his venom slowly drip into the man’s veins. 

“You barely drink from Ravn anyway,” Hwanwoong said, starting to tear up, “it’ll be fine. I’ll make sure he’s under control, I promise.”

Seoho pulled away just as the man’s heart stopped. “Bring him upstairs,” he said, taking a hard seat on the floor, “if it worked, he’ll wake up some time tomorrow.” He had vowed to himself many centuries ago that he would never turn anyone, never subject anyone to his fate, and here he was having turned two people in such a short span of time.

Hwanwoong carefully moved the man up to the room they had originally stuck Ravn in and left him sleeping, tucked tightly under the covers. Although his blood connection would be to Seoho, the fledgling would really be Hwanwoong’s if he made it through the night. 

Seoho eventually realized he was still on the floor. He pulled himself to his feet and disappeared deep into the mansion again. Selfishly, he hoped he was too late but the guilt Hwanwoong would have would eat him alive. Seoho didn’t know what to think and he could almost forget about Ravn downstairs. 

Hwanwoong stayed with the man through the rest of the night and the following day, doing his best to keep him from burning up. The change was clearly happening.

Seoho curled up in one of his beds and didn’t move. He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d gotten sleep, and that, on top of the guilt, was driving him insane. When he heard the man upstairs start whimpering, he nearly lost it. It had worked. 

Hwanwoong sat bolt upright when he heard the man start to move. “It’s okay,” he said quietly, “you’re safe, I promise.”

Geonhak forced his eyes open. He could barely see with all the pain he was in, but he registered someone standing above him. “W-Where am I?” he asked weakly, “and who...who are you?”

“My name is Hwanwoong,” the vampire replied, “you’re in my home. You got...hurt and we had to help you.”

“Your home? I got hurt? What happened?” Geonhak asked, completely confused. Last he remembered, he was walking through the city before everything went dark and now he was here. 

Hwanwoong figured he might as well get it over with. “I hurt you,” he admitted, “and you were nearly dead, but Seoho - that’s my boyfriend - he turned you so you wouldn’t die.”

Geonhak tried to push himself away from Hwanwoong but his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated. “Turned me? What the hell are you talking about?” he asked. His vision was starting to clear and only then did he register the man’s pale skin and piercing red eyes.

“Whoa, hey, careful,” Hwanwoong said. He reached out and steadied the man. There was no way he could get away with not explaining, so he decided to be as blunt as possible. “You’re a vampire now. I’m sorry.”

“No, no, no, you’re messing with me. What’s actually going on? I-I can’t be here, I need to get home,” Geonhak said quickly. He finally managed to get some leverage and pushed himself up. Ignoring the pain, he tried desperately to get out of the bed but all it did was land him in a heap on the floor. His body felt like it was on fire and he would do anything for it to be over. 

Hwanwoong jumped and carefully guided the man back into bed. “You can go home,” he said, “as soon as the turning is complete and we’re certain that you won’t go on a murderous bloodthirsty rampage.”

Geonhak was nearly in tears, from the pain and the fear. “How...how much longer will it hurt?” he asked quietly. It was becoming unbearable on top of the fact that he was starting to become hungry. 

“Another night or so,” Hwanwoong said regretfully, “and I know you’re probably starving, but you can’t eat until your teeth come in. The best thing would be for you to get some more rest.”

Geonhak reached up to run his fingers along his jaw. “My teeth?” he whispered to himself. How was he supposed to rest when he was somewhere so unfamiliar, with a man he didn’t know, on top of the immense pain he was in?

Hwanwoong wasn’t sure if glamours worked on other vampires, but it was worth a shot. “I can try and block some of the pain for you,” he offered, “but I’m not sure if it’ll work.”

“Please, anything, I’ll try anything. I’ll take anything! Whatever stops the pain,” Geonhak said desperately. 

Hwanwoong reached out and turned the man’s head to look him straight in the eyes. He growled in frustration when the glamour didn’t take. “It won’t work on you, I’m sorry,” he said apologetically, “and neither will traditional painkillers. Let me go grab Seoho and see if he knows of anything that could help.”

Geonhak whimpered pitifully. He climbed out of bed and was successful at staying on his feet this time. He stilled when an unfamiliar scent hit his nose. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was but it smelled delicious. Blindly, he tried to follow Hwanwoong out of the room and towards whatever was hidden in the house. 

Hwanwoong didn’t mind the man following him, but when he split off and started toward Ravn’s room, he had to stop him. “You can’t go down there yet,” he said, “or without supervision, for now.”

“Please, I’m so hungry,” Geonhak begged, “I need something to eat, I don’t care about my teeth being in or not.” He felt shaky and had to lean against the wall to keep himself upright. His head was spinning and that was not helping the situation. 

Hwanwoong bit his lip. Technically speaking, the man didn’t need his fangs so long as he had some other way to break skin. With a sigh, he took him by the wrist and led him down the hall to Ravn’s room. 

Geonhak pulled against Hwanwoong the closer they got to the source of the smell. When the door swung open, he didn’t even register it was a person on the other end before he was leaping across the room. Instinctively, he bit into the man’s neck and growled loudly when nothing happened. He was so close, so close. He bit down again, harder this time, and hummed in relief when the first drop of blood hit his tongue. 

Youngjo was fast asleep when something suddenly hit him and pain exploded in his neck. He cracked his eyes open and freaked out when he didn’t recognize the man on top of him, thrashing to throw him off. Fortunately, Hwanwoong pulled the man off before much else could happen. “You can’t just jump someone like that,” he reprimanded, “I know you’re starving but he wasn’t even awake. Be respectful.”

Geonhak didn’t register anything that Hwanwoong was saying. He struggled against the smaller man’s grasp and couldn’t for the life of him figure out why he couldn’t break free. “Let go of me,” he growled, eyes locked on the man on the bed. He was completely unsatisfied, the small taste of blood he had gotten left him hungry for more. 

Youngjo pushed himself to sit up properly and pulled his shirt further to the side. “It’s fine,” he said listlessly, “the puncture is the painful part anyway.” He didn’t even care if this fledgling took too much. Hwanwoong sighed then released his fledgling to drink his fill. 

Geonhak lunged across the room and bit down on the man’s neck one more time. The trickle of blood was slow and he was starting to get frustrated. He didn’t know if he would ever be satisfied. 

Hwanwoong could tell the man was getting frustrated. “Do you want me to open a vein for you?” He asked. 

Geonhak pulled away and looked back up at Hwanwoong. “Please,” he begged. He was starting to understand why he needed teeth. Judging by how his jaw was beginning to ache, it wouldn’t take much longer. 

Hwanwoong grabbed Ravn’s arm and bit down on his wrist, opening the vein there and giving his neck a break. As much as he despised the human, he didn’t want to risk the fledgling taking too much.

Geonhak leapt up and grabbed onto the man’s wrist. He drank greedily, but it still felt like his hunger was barely satisfied. How could this be happening?

Hwanwoong kept a careful eye on Ravn and pulled the fledgling off when his lips started to lose their color. “That’s enough for right now,” he said, “we need to let him recuperate.”

Geonhak struggled against Hwanwoong again. “Please, I need more. I’m so hungry,” he said desperately. What he had eaten had barely left him satisfied. 

Youngjo slumped back against the pillows, watching disinterestedly. Clearly, the fledgling’s size was directly proportional to his appetite. “I can handle a little more,” he offered. 

With a sharp pull, Geonhak pulled himself away from Hwanwoong and latched onto the man’s wrist again. Seoho had heard the commotion and dragged himself out of bed and down to Ravn’s room. “If he eats much more now, he’s going to make himself sick,” he said. 

“You’ll be able to tell when that is better than I can,” Hwanwoong said, “and maybe get his name in the process.”

Seoho carefully pulled the fledgling off of Ravn and guided him back upstairs. He was surprised how strong he already was for only being just barely being awake. “Relax,” he said soothingly, “you can eat again in a little bit. I don’t want you to make yourself sick.”

Youngjo was one wrong movement away from passing out and he was watching blood continue to leak out of his arm. “Can you at least seal it up?” he asked Hwanwoong, voice barely more than a whisper. 

Geonhak slumped against the new man. “Are you Seoho?” he asked quietly. The vampire nodded. “I’m glad Hwanwoong didn’t have much to say about me. Although I must apologize for him never asking your name,” he said. “It’s Geonhak,” the fledgling replied weakly. He all but collapsed into the bed and whimpered pitifully. He would do anything for the pain to go away. 

Hwanwoong took Ravn’s wrist and licked over the wounds. He leaned over and got the ones on his neck as well. “I see you’ve clearly had a change of heart,” he said, crossing his arms. Youngjo closed his eyes and shook his head. “I just gave up,” he mumbled. 

Geonhak whimpered again and squeezed his eyes closed. “Everything hurts, I just want it to end,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry. It’ll all be over soon. I’m so sorry this had to happen, I really am,” Seoho said. 

Ravn was out like a light after that and Hwanwoong went back upstairs to where he could hear Seoho and the other man talking. “There’s nothing you can do for the pain, babe?” he asked. 

Seoho glanced up when Hwanwoong came back into the room. He shook his head. “No human remedies will work and I was never told what would help vampires,” he said sadly, “just keep an eye on him. He should feel better once he wakes up again. Oh, and his name is Geonhak.” He looked back at the fledgling before walking towards the door. 

“Geonhak,” Hwanwoong repeated quietly. He sat down in a chair next to the bed, watching over the fledgling carefully. He also kept an ear out for Ravn, making sure the man was recovering. 

Seoho silently made his way back downstairs. He checked his cheek before retreating to his bedroom once more. Geonhak slept on and off for what barely felt like any time at all. Every time he woke up, he was in more pain than the last time until he finally woke up without any trace of pain and his skin no longer felt like it was on fire. 

It took the rest of the day and into the night for Geonhak to finally finish making the turn. By then, Ravn was fully recovered from the fledgling's earlier feeding, so Hwanwoong brought him back down for another. 

Geonhak balked when Hwanwoong brought him back downstairs. Now that his head was much clearer, he was more aware of his surroundings. As hungry as he was, a small part of his mind was warning against it. This was a person in front of him! This couldn’t be right. “I-I can’t,” he said weakly.

“You have to,” Hwanwoong said sympathetically as he unlocked the door, “Ravn has more or less agreed to stay here and do this for us. I promise it’s alright.”

Geonhak approached Ravn slowly. It was harder and harder to resist the closer he got and he all but collapsed to his knees next to the bed. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, grabbing the man’s wrist and biting into it as gently as he could. Once the first drop of blood hit his tongue, all reservations he had disappeared and he drank greedily. 

Youngjo had been waiting for them to come back, knowing that the creaking floorboards around him meant they were on the move. To his surprise, the fledgling dropped and drank from his wrist rather than his neck like the other two. 

Finally, Geonhak snapped back into it and pulled away from Ravn’s wrist. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shuddered when he saw the glistening red. How had this happened to him? He wished this was nothing more than a horrible dream but everything was too real for him to hold onto that hope. 

“Lick over it so it stops bleeding,” Hwanwoong instructed, “our saliva aids coagulation.”

Geonhak obediently licked over the small puncture marks in Ravn’s wrist. It dawned on him that he had been able to break the skin much easier today. He ran his tongue over his teeth and was only slightly unnerved to find his canine teeth were much sharper than he was used to. 

Youngjo watched the entire exchange silently. He hoped that he and this fledgling could maybe remain on good terms. He shifted slightly and the chain around his ankle clanked. 

Geonhak turned when he heard a noise and was not expecting to see the man chained to the bed. “Why...why is that on him?” he asked nervously. He shifted back from the bed and looked up at Hwanwoong. 

Youngjo raised his eyebrows, waiting to see how Hwanwoong was going to explain his way out of this one. “We had some disagreements in the beginning,” the vampire said slowly, “it’s only been the last day or so that Ravn has been cooperating.”

Geonhak pulled himself to his feet and moved away from Hwanwoong and Ravn. He felt dirty. The man he had fed from was a prisoner, a hostage really. He had eaten from someone who didn’t want to be here just as much as he did, except he was free to go and Ravn clearly wasn’t. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He eyed the door but Hwanwoong was standing in his way. He wasn’t sure if the small vampire would be able to stop him or not and he didn’t particularly want to find out. 

Youngjo almost had to smile at that. Whatever happened during the turn had clearly left the fledgling with much more humanity than the other two. “It’s okay,” he said quietly, “I don’t really mind it anymore. This,” he kicked his foot to move the chain again, “is much more Seoho’s doing at this point.”

Geonhak looked back at Hwanwoong. “He...he’s not going to put a chain on me too is he?” he asked nervously. He didn’t want to be trapped here for the rest of his life, which he didn’t even know how long that was anymore.

“No,” Hwanwoong said firmly, “the chain is because Ravn almost got Seoho killed the last time he tried to make a run for it. The only reason we can’t give him the freedom to go and come back is because we can’t risk being found out.”

Geonhak looked back and forth between Hwanwoong and Ravn. He didn’t blame the man for trying to escape. If he didn’t have the freedom to go home soon, he probably would have tried to run himself.

“It’s really fine,” Youngjo said, “but it’s nice that you’re concerned.”

Geonhak nodded once. “Can I go back upstairs?” he asked hesitantly. He couldn’t stand to be down here anymore. He felt guilty enough as it was and it didn’t help that Ravn smelled delicious even though he had just eaten.

“Yeah, whatever you wanna do,” Hwanwoong said, “just let me know if you get hungry again.”

“I will,” Geonhak said quietly. He shot Ravn an apologetic look before stepping out of the room and heading back upstairs. He didn’t know his way around and he was just wandering, hoping he would come across the right door at some point. “Are you looking for something?” Seoho asked, coming upstairs to find Geonhak. He had heard the footsteps wandering aimlessly and knew the fledgling was lost. Geonhak yelped in surprise and whipped around. “I-I’m sorry, I just wanted to go lay down,” he said nervously. He backed away from Seoho, not sure what the vampire would do to him. 

“You can take it off,” Youngjo told Hwanwoong, kicking at the chain again, “I’m not gonna run again. There’s no point.”

Seoho hated that Geonhak was afraid of him but he brushed it off and wordlessly led the fledgling up to his bedroom. “There is a set of stairs that leads further down into the mansion than the room you were just in. That area is off limits and I highly recommend you don’t go down there no matter how curious you get,” he said. Geonhak nodded immediately. 

Hwanwoong was hesitant, but Ravn really did seem like he had given up on going home. He removed the chain from the man’s ankle, but left it wrapped around the bedpost, just in case. 

Seoho left the room just as quickly as he had come. He hadn’t been outside since the day he had nearly gotten caught in the sun and he didn’t think it would hurt to take a stroll around the grounds. Slipping out of the mansion, he walked slowly towards the furthest garden. 

“Are you going to kill me if I get up to use the bathroom?” Youngjo asked, swinging his feet over the side of the bed. He stood up and wobbled a bit, but found himself supported by Hwanwoong in seconds. “Idiot,” the vampire muttered, “why would you let him nearly drain you last night?”

Seoho kept walking until Hwanwoong and Ravn’s talking was barely audible. He ended up past the garden and well into the woods but if this was what it took for some peace and quiet he would take it. When he decided he had walked far enough, he took a seat on the ground and leaned up against a tree.

“He clearly needed it and I’d rather just give it to him than have him attack me,” Youngjo said, “why do you care anyway? You’d probably be happy if I died.”

Geonhak was starting to feel unsettled. Even though he knew he was well away from the basement, he could still hear Ravn and Hwanwoong talking. No matter what he did, not even clamping his hands over his ears, could cut out the noise. He felt like he was eavesdropping even though there was nothing he could do to stop it. Why of all things did he have to have such a sharp sense of hearing now?

“I don’t care, but Geonhak clearly does and I’ve already had to clean up your bodily fluids from the floor once this week,” Hwanwoong said, letting go of Ravn now that the man was stable on his own feet.

How could the vampires be so blasé about everything going on? Geonhak wondered fleetingly if he were to leave if they would let him take Ravn with him. He could claim it would be so he could eat without hurting people, and when they got far enough away, he could let the man go. There had to be a way he could survive without feeding off of humans, there had to be. 

Once Hwanwoong left Youngjo alone, he had a lot to think about. The fledgling, Geonhak, was clearly much more hesitant about the realities of being a vampire than the other two were. He wondered how the next few days would play out before Geonhak was inevitably controlled enough to leave. 

Seoho finally dragged himself to his feet and headed back to the mansion when the sun was coming back up. Ravn couldn’t handle feeding three vampires so he resigned himself to go hunting the following night. The longer Geonhak laid in bed, the hungrier he became. He tried to ignore it, to resist the urge, but it was so hard. As time ticked on, the discomfort was becoming more and more unbearable and Ravn’s scent became stronger and stronger. Eventually, his control snapped and he scurried downstairs. Of course the bedroom door was locked and it took him a moment to remember that Hwanwoong had the key. He slid to the floor and leaned against the door. Ravn’s scent was even more enticing now that he was so close and it took all of his power not to rip the door down. 

Youngjo jumped when he heard a thump against the door. The fledgling must be hungry. Carefully, he got up and unlocked it from the inside, but didn’t open it. 

Geonhak barely registered the click of the door unlocking. He pulled himself to his feet and pushed the door open. “I’m so sorry,” he said when he entered the room, “I tried to wait but I can’t help it.” His eyes darted between Ravn’s wrist and his face.

“It’s fine,” Youngjo said kindly, “you’re already much more controlled than the other two. I really don’t mind at all.”

Geonbak’s knees gave out and he took a hard seat on the floor. “Really? I feel like I haven’t had any control since I’ve been here,” he said sadly. He forced himself to stay rooted to the floor and tried not to think about how hungry he was. His arms shook with determination.

Youngjo nodded. “Granted, I haven’t exactly been very cooperative for them, but they don’t really care anyway. You actually seem to be concerned about whether I’m in pain or not.” He shook back his sleeve and offered his wrist to Geonhak. 

“I shouldn’t,” the fledgling said quietly. Even as he said it his body moved against his will towards the bed and he gently grabbed Ravn’s wrist. He couldn’t resist any longer and he bit into the soft skin as carefully as he could, mumbling a sincere apology.

“To my understanding, Seoho has been this way for centuries, and Hwanwoong picked up some of those survivalist tendencies from him,” Youngjo said, slowly sinking to the floor so he wouldn’t pass out. 

Geonbak eventually forced himself to pull away from Ravn’s wrist. He licked over the wound and subconsciously ran his thumb over the small punctures. “Centuries,” he breathed. Was he going to live for centuries too? There was no way he could handle living like this for that long.

“They’ve been together for at least one,” Youngjo said, “but Hwanwoong’s only been a vampire for a few months.”

That didn’t add up. “How did he survive that long before he was a vampire?” he asked. There was so much he didn’t know and he honestly wasn’t sure how much more he wanted to learn.

“He was Seoho’s bloodsource,” Youngjo said, “something about it creates false immortality.”

Geonhak glanced down at the marks littering Ravn’s neck and wrist. “Does that mean you have it now too?” he asked. 

Youngjo nodded. “Temporarily, at least,” he said, “I don’t know how long it lasts but it clearly prevents aging. Just look at Hwanwoong.”

Geonhak nodded. “This is so hard to get used to. I thought it was bad enough waking up somewhere unfamiliar and barely recognizing my own body; I can’t imagine being held here,” he said. He glanced down at Ravn’s ankle and was glad to see that he was no longer chained to the bed. 

Youngjo shrugged. It had only been a few weeks, but he was used to it by now. “They don’t have my name and they can’t get to my family,” he said, “the things that matter are safe.”

It dawned on Geonhak that he was still holding Ravn’s wrist. He let go with another quiet apology. “I want to help you get out of here,” he said, “Hwanwoong said I can go home as soon as I have enough control. If they really don’t care about you, we can just say I want you to come with me so I don’t have to hurt anyone. I can make sure you make it back to your family safely and then I’ll figure it out from there.” 

Youngjo hesitated then shook his head. “They’ll never trust me to not expose them,” he said, “and I can’t bring my family into this. It’s not fair.”

Geonhak frowned. “There has to be something. I can help you escape again on your own. I can try to hold them off. As long as you get away, it doesn’t matter what happens to me,” he said. 

“I’m really okay, Geonhak, thank you,” Youngjo said, “I’ve tried like four or five times now and I’d rather be stuck here with the possibility of them starting to trust me than just have them kill me.”

Geonhak’s shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry you’re stuck here,” he said. Apologizing didn’t help anything but it was all he could offer. “I wish there was a way to reverse this.” Of course that was impossible but so was everything else he had hoped for.

“It’s not your fault,” Youngjo said, “this is just where my life is right now.”

Geonhak chuckled wryly. He could understand that. “It’s actually not so bad here. I mean not being stuck here, but the house is nice at least. I might be able to convince them to let you have a little more leeway in the mansion,” he said. 

“I don’t even mind what they’re doing to me,” Youngjo admitted, “I just hate that I can’t even let my family know that I’m okay.”

“They won’t even let you send a letter? I’m sure they’d read it first but they can’t expect you to just stay cut off from them. It’s gonna make you being here even more suspicious,” Geonhak said. 

“I haven’t asked,” Youngjo said, “I don’t trust them to actually send it. Besides, it’s probably safer to have everyone think I’m dead anyway.”

Geonhak sighed sadly. There really wasn’t anything he could do for Ravn. He felt bad that the poor man had lost his family. “I’m going to try and figure something out so that I don’t have to come...bother you so often,” he said quietly. 

“It’s fine,” Youngjo said again, “I don’t really mind you.” Geonhak had as little choice in this situation as he did. 

“But I’m the one who’s been hurting you the most. At least since I’ve been here,” Geonhak said. 

Youngjo shrugged. “I’ll be more mobile once my body adjusts to it,” he said, “the only reason I tried to escape in the first place was to get to someone. If they let me bring him here, there would really be no more problems, but I’m worried that he won’t be safe.” He had probably said too much already, with the two always listening in. 

“You wanna bring someone else here? I mean I know it’s not the best alternative but if he becomes a source too then you’ll be able to live together forever,” Geonhak said carefully. 

“I wouldn’t allow that,” Youngjo said cryptically, “not for a while at least. Once he can really choose for himself, sure, but not now.”

Geonhak thought better than to push it farther. It dawned on him just how long he had been sitting down here. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to impose on you for so long,” he said, pulling himself to his feet. 

“I have nothing better to do,” Youngjo said with a shrug, “you’re welcome to come talk whenever you want.”

Geonhak smiled softly. “Thanks. It’s nice to have someone else who understands what it’s like to get dragged into this,” he said. 

Youngjo smiled and carefully stood up so he could get back into bed. “I’ll make sure they don’t lock the door anymore,” he said. 

Geonhak took a small step back into the room to make sure Ravn didn’t fall. “Thanks,” he said sheepishly, “I promise I won’t knock your door down again.”

Hwanwoong listened to the entire exchange upstairs. It seemed odd to him that Ravn would actually be okay with all of this so long as he was able to see his family. He had half a mind to let him bring them to the mansion, but he knew Seoho wouldn’t like that at all. 

Geonhak made his way back upstairs. He didn’t want to risk exploring the mansion so he decided to take a walk around outside. The first problem was finding the front door. 

With a sigh, Hwanwoong got up and headed to see Ravn. “Not now,” the human groaned when he saw him, “the fledgling just ate, I can’t go again.”

Seoho heard the door open and knew the fledgling was going outside. His hearing must have improved because he turned around when Seoho approached him rather than getting startled. “I’m not coming to drag you back in,” Seoho said before Geonhak could defend himself, “I just wanted to warn you that you need to come back inside before the sun comes up because it will burn your skin.”

“I’m not here to eat,” Hwanwoong said, sitting down on the end of the bed, “I overheard you and Geonhak talking. You’re really prepared to stay full time if we let you bring your family here?” Youngjo crossed his arms. “It’s not safe for him here,” he said firmly.

“How far am I allowed to go?” Geonhak asked hesitantly. “As far as you want,” Seoho said, “I’m actually impressed by how much self control you have already so I’m not worried about you hurting someone unintentionally.”

Hwanwoong sighed heavily. If he could find a way to keep Ravn here and happy, he could solve all of their problems. “What would make it safe?” Youngjo snorted. “You and Seoho, dead and gone,” he said. 

“Is there anything I’m not allowed to do?” Geonhak asked next. Seoho shook his head. “You’re free to do whatever you want, including leave if you want to return home. Although I don’t recommend that until you’re completely adjusted,” he said. Geonhak nodded. “I’m not gonna go far,” he promised. 

Hwanwoong frowned. “If you’re still willing to act as a source, there’s no reason for us to bite anyone else,” he said, “even with the three of us, Seoho can go weeks without feeding and I’m up to a couple of days already. Geonhak will be leaving soon too, I imagine.”

Seoho watched Geonhak jog into the woods before he turned back into the house. He paced back and forth across the main foyer, waiting for Hwanwoong to come back upstairs. It felt like it had been forever since he had even seen his boyfriend and he missed him a lot. 

“Geonhak’s leaving?” Youngjo asked. That made him weirdly upset. Geonhak was the only of the three of them that respected him. “He doesn’t want to stay here,” Hwanwoong said, “he has a life to return to.” “So do I!” Youngjo said pointedly.

Geonhak decided to figure some stuff out for himself. He gradually increased his pace, letting the wind whip through his hair, until he reached the end of the forest. He skidded to a halt and eyed the nearest tree. The sun wasn’t coming up yet so he decided to try climbing it. 

“I know,” Hwanwoong said, “I know, and you know why we can’t let you go back to that, but I’m trying to compromise.” “Why can’t you just believe that I won’t say anything?” Youngjo asked. “I believe that you won’t say anything,” Hwanwoong said, “but we can’t afford to lose you. We could make a deal for you to come and go, but I wouldn’t trust you to uphold your end.”

Geonhak wasn’t sure why he was surprised that the tree was so easy to climb. It seemed like all physical activity was much easier now. He settled himself on the highest branch that would support him and looked over into the city, still lit up even though the morning was approaching.

That was fair. Youngjo wouldn’t come back if they let him leave. Why should he? He wanted Dongju far, far away from here.

Eventually, Geonhak climbed down from the tree and headed back towards the mansion. Usually runs like this would leave him out of breath but…he didn’t even have to breathe anymore. He shuddered. It hadn’t dawned on him until now. 

“I don’t want him here,” Youngjo said firmly, “end of discussion.”

Geonhak wasn’t expecting to find Seoho in the front room. The vampire glanced up at him when he came it but didn’t pay him much mind regardless. Not wanting to push his luck, he snuck upstairs to his room. 

Hwanwoong stood up. “You are insufferable,” he said, annoyed, “grow up.”

Geonhak was glad he decided to come back upstairs. Hwanwoong didn’t sound happy at all and he didn’t want to make it worse. 

Hwanwoong stormed up the stairs to find Seoho in the entryway. “Every time I try to make this better for him, he just has to go and be a brat,” he ranted. 

“Hwanwoong, as long as he isn’t trying to escape that’s all we can ask for,” Seoho said gently, “and you were the one that put him in the chain. I don’t blame him for not wanting to bring anyone else here.”

“And I’m the one that took him out of it,” Hwanwoong grumbled, “we’ll have to get Geonhak to get him talking.”

“He is not your personal spy. The only reason he’s even here is because you weren’t careful. You’re not using him for anything else,” Seoho said. 

“And what happens when Youngjo tries to escape again to get to this family member?” Hwanwoong said, “he’s going to be smart about it this time and we’re going to lose him and then what?”

“You let me handle picking who we bring here,” Seoho said, “he’s not going to escape again. And if you’re so worried about it go, find this family member yourself and bring them here. You’re quite the professional at bringing new people here.”

“I would if I had any way of knowing who or what this family member is,” Hwanwoong said, “and he claims to not want them here anyway, which I think is bullshit.”

Seoho just looked at him. “Do you blame him for not wanting to drag his family into this? I didn’t want to drag you into this and look what’s happened since I did,” he said. 

Hwanwoong pulled away from his boyfriend. “Fuck me for wanting to make sure we don’t get hunted down by an angry mob then,” he grumbled, pushing past him and storming up to their room. 

Seoho loved Hwanwoong, he really did, but he would do anything if it meant his boyfriend wouldn’t be so hot headed. He glanced out the nearest window and frowned when he saw the sun was already starting to rise. He wouldn’t make it anywhere now, so he just headed downstairs. 

Youngjo was halfway asleep when he heard the door open. It was Seoho this time and he instinctively brought a hand up to his neck. Of the three of them, he was the least gentle. 

“I’m not here to feed,” Seoho said when he caught Ravn’s movement. “I’m here to apologize for Hwanwoong’s behavior.”

“Of all the shit he’s pulled, this is honestly the one I care about the least,” Youngjo said, “it’s fine.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t take any of Geonhak’s offers to help you escape. Hopefully, that means everything will go much more smoothly from now on,” Seoho said. 

“There’s no point,” Youngjo said, “you won’t let me go willingly and you’ll just hunt me down and kill me if I try to go on my own. I’d rather not die, thanks.”

“What a change of heart,” Seoho commented quietly, “I wish we were able to come up with a better agreement from the beginning. But I suppose it’s too late for that. All I can really do is make sure you’re comfortable here. You and Geonhak seem pretty friendly so I’m sure that makes things better.”

“Ah, but Geonhak’s going to leave in a few days anyway,” Youngjo mused, “the only one of you with any humanity left and he’ll be gone before it even matters.”

“He hasn’t mentioned leaving. At least not that I’ve heard,” Seoho said. It was easy to ignore the comments. He had heard much worse over the years. 

“Hwanwoong said he’s leaving as soon as he’s stable enough on his own, which is now, honestly,” Youngjo said, “look, if you’re not here to feed, could you let me get some sleep? It’s been a rough couple of days.”

“Yes, of course,” Seoho said; he could understand that. “I don’t know when I’ll be back down but I’ll make sure Hwanwoong brings some food down for you.” He turned around and left Ravn to get some rest. 

Youngjo just hummed and laid down again. He didn’t want to think about vampires for the rest of the night - or day, he supposed. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. 

Instead of going to his bedroom, Seoho headed for the back door. He had a small porch with a roof that allowed him to sit outside even when it was sunny out. Pulling open the door, he stepped outside and lowered himself into the chair. He used to be so afraid of the sun. Hiding deep inside his house whenever it was out. But recently he had become much braver. 

Hwanwoong heard Seoho go outside and decided to join him. He missed the sun more than anything. “Baby,” he mumbled, crossing the porch to sit on Seoho’s lap, “I’m sorry for earlier.”

Seoho was expecting Hwanwoong to yell at him for being careless and drag him back inside. But instead his boyfriend dropped himself in his lap. “It’s okay, my love. I’m not mad,” he said honestly. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around Hwanwoong’s waist. 

“I miss it, you know,” Hwanwoong said, leaning back against Seoho’s shoulder, “and I hate that he doesn’t appreciate you.”

Seoho scoffed. “Why should he appreciate me? I’ve ruined his life. I can’t hold it against him for hating me when I don’t feel much different myself,” he said quietly. 

“I think I just miss getting to appreciate you myself,” Hwanwoong admitted, “feeding you was such an intimate act for us and I honestly miss it a lot.”

Seoho closed his eyes and buried his face in Hwanwoong’s neck. “I miss it too,” he whispered, “I miss when it was just the two of us.”

“I get so jealous every time you go feed from him,” Hwanwoong said quietly, “I know you need to but I miss being the one you did all that with.”

Seoho hadn’t felt this much guilt in a long time. If only he hadn’t gotten greedy. If only he hadn’t gotten cocky. If only he hadn’t lost his self control, he would be in bed right now, wrapped around Hwanwoong instead of desperately trying not to cry into the younger man’s shoulder. “That’s why I’m not feeding as often,” he said, voice thick. 

“Hey, don’t hurt yourself because of me,” Hwanwoong said gently, turning to look at Seoho, “I’m happy like this, I really am. I’m just feeling nostalgic.”

“I’m not hurting myself,” Seoho said, still trying to hide his face. He wasn’t happy like this, but he couldn’t admit that to Hwanwoong. “I love you so much. I would do anything to go back to how things were,” he said instead. 

“You are if you’re not feeding,” Hwanwoong said, “and you know, you don’t have to feed from for us to still have that intimacy.”

“It’s perfectly okay for me to wait a few weeks in between feedings,” Seoho said firmly. He finally untucked his head and looked up at Hwanwoong. It never ceased to amaze him how breathtakingly gorgeous his boyfriend was. 

“I know you can, but you shouldn’t,” Hwanwoong admonished gently, “c’mon, let’s go to bed and you can bite me a bit, okay?” 

Seoho wanted to protest but he didn’t. He wasn’t in the mood today but it had been so long since they had done anything like, how could he say no? He let Hwanwoong drag him off of the porch and upstairs to their bedroom. 

It wasn’t often that Hwanwoong tried to act like the bigger one in the relationship, but Seoho clearly needed a break. The younger vampire directed him to get changed and comfy in bed before sliding in next to him and offering his neck. 

Seoho wrapped an arm around Hwanwoong and kissed the younger man’s neck before gently biting into it. This was the first time he had bitten Hwanwoong since he had turned him and he didn’t know what to think. It was also the first time he had bitten into someone other than to feed. 

Hwanwoong’s breath caught in his throat when the puncture was first made, but he soon relaxed. None of this was intended to be sexual, just therapeutic. 

Seoho pulled away after a minute, automatically licking over the wound. He pressed kisses up and down Hwanwoong’s throat, mumbling “I love you” over and over again. 

“I love you too,” Hwanwoong murmured, running his fingers through Seoho’s hair.

Seoho buried his face in Hwanwoong’s neck. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered quietly.

Hwanwoong hummed. “You deserve much better than me,” he agreed. 

Seoho felt his eyes tear up and he squeezed them shut. “Don’t say that,” he begged. 

“It’s true,” Hwanwoong said, “I’ve caused you how many problems? How much grief?”

“Hwanwoong, please,” Seoho begged desperately, “I ruined your life. I _ ended _ your life. I deserve all of the problems and grief you can give me.”

“You also gave me a life,” Hwanwoong said softly, “I was on my proverbial last breath when I met you. You just keep saving me, baby.”

Seoho couldn’t help the few tears that fell from his eyes and ran down his cheeks. He tightened his grip on his boyfriend, almost as if he would lose him for good if he let go.

“You’re so, so good to me,” Hwanwoong said, petting Seoho’s hair gently, “and now I get to have you forever and ever, all to myself.”

Seoho didn’t know what to think. He pulled himself away from Hwanwoong’s neck and looked up at his boyfriend with glassy eyes. After a moment, he hesitantly pressed their lips together.

Hwanwoong kissed Seoho back, even nipping gently at his lip with his fangs. He just wanted the older man to feel loved. 

Seoho melted into the kiss. It had been so long and he didn’t realize how much he truly missed Hwanwoong until now. The pent up tension gradually began to drain from his body. He truly didn’t know what he’d do without Hwanwoong. 

Hwanwoong felt it when Seoho finally relaxed completely. “Better?” He asked, pulling away a bit. 

Seoho nodded and leaned his head against Hwanwoong. “Thank you,” he whispered, “I don’t know what I would have done if I never met you.”

“I could say the same thing,” Hwanwoong said, “either way, I love you to death and beyond.”

A small smile pulled at Seoho’s lips. “I love you more,” he said. He tightened his grip on Hwanwoong and settled down to get some much needed rest. 

On the other side of the house, Youngjo woke with a gasp and bolted out of bed. Acting on muscle memory alone, he sprinted for where he thought the door was and collapsed against the wall when he realized where he was. He sobbed. It had all been a dream. 

Geonhak awoke with a start when he heard crying. From where it was coming from in the house, it had to be Ravn. He leapt out of bed and raced down to the basement.

Youngjo flinched back with a small scream when the real door was suddenly flung open. He didn’t even know which of the vampires it was, just that they were angry he was causing a disturbance. 

Geonhak was grateful that Ravn wasn’t physically hurt. “Whoa, hey, hey, it’s okay,” he said soothingly, “it’s just me. I’m sorry to scare you but I wanted to make sure you were okay.” 

Youngjo couldn’t even talk with how hard he was sobbing. The dream had started nice, with him going home to Dongju, and had ended with Hwanwoong and Seoho ripping his son to shreds.

Geonhak wasn’t quite sure what to do. He lowered himself to the floor and sat down next to Ravn. He gave the man his space but tried to stay close enough to be comforting. “Hey, I’m really sorry about whatever happened,” he said, “I know it’s really hard but you gotta make sure you breathe.”

Youngjo tried to breathe, he did, but he just ended up hyperventilating instead. By then, the other two were awake and Hwanwoong came all but flying into the room. He forced Youngjo to look at him and glamoured him until he was calm enough on his own. 

Geonhak scrambled back when Hwanwoong came into the room. He glanced up and saw Seoho standing in the doorway. “I-I don’t know what happened. I swear I didn’t hurt him,” he rambled. “It’s okay, Geonhak,” Seoho said soothingly, “we’ll figure out what happened.”

“Let’s get him into bed,” Hwanwoong said, reaching for Youngjo’s arm to help him to his feet. The second he touched the human, Youngjo flinched back violently. 

Seoho watched from the doorway. “Wait a moment, Hwanwoong,” he said, “Geonhak, can you move Ravn to the bed please?” he asked. “I don’t want to hurt him,” the fledgling said in a small voice. “Don’t worry, you won’t. Go ahead and move him,” Seoho said. Geonhak slowly moved back towards Ravn. “I’m really sorry. I just want to help, I promise,” he said slowly reaching a hand out.

Youngjo was hesitant, but he let Geonhak help him and into bed. With all three of them looming over him, his heart started to race again, especially with the way the shadows contorted their faces. Dongju was safe, he forced himself to remember, safe at home and nowhere near here.

Geonhak backed away as soon as Ravn was in bed. He could tell the man was terrified and he felt horrible that there was nothing he could do. “Come on, Hwanwoong, let’s go back upstairs and let Ravn relax from whatever happened,” Seoho said, “Geonhak, I want you to stay down here and keep an eye on him for us.”

Youngjo couldn’t even relax when Hwanwoong and Seoho had left. He was still too shaken up from his nightmare. 

Geonhak didn’t want to overwhelm Ravn more so he kept his distance. “Would it help more if I stayed outside?” he asked. He didn’t want to anger Seoho and Hwanwoong by leaving completely but he didn’t mind waiting in the hallway if it helped.

Youngjo shook his head. He didn’t want to be alone, but he couldn’t look at the other two vampires without feeling abject terror. What he really needed was someone to go and peek in on Dongju, just to soothe his worries. 

Geonhak slid to the floor in front of the door. “Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked quietly. 

Youngjo shook his head again. He couldn’t say it out loud, not while Seoho and Hwanwoong could still be listening. “Paper,” he said finally, “I need paper.”

Geonhak nodded. “I’ll be right back,” he said pulling himself to his feet. He was about to go all the way up to his room but when he passed by a table out of the corner of his eye he caught some paper and a pencil. He walked hesitantly over and wasn’t surprised to find a note from the other vampires explaining that they needed to read anything Ravn wanted to send out to make sure it didn’t expose them. Grabbing the blank pieces and the pencil, Geonhak headed back down to Ravn’s room. 

Youngjo took the paper from Geonhak with shaky hands and quickly scrawled out the instructions. “I need you to check on my son,” it read, “his name is Dongju and he’s two years old. I just need to know that he’s safe. If you get caught by my mother, let her know that Youngjo sent you and that I’m alive and safe.” He had written directions below.

Geonhak read the note over twice to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He nodded and reached for the pencil, writing his own note of agreement and saying that he would leave as soon as the sun started going down. 

“Please, don’t let them get ahold of that,” Youngjo said, “destroy it as soon as you don’t need it. I can’t have them finding him.”

Geonhak nodded again. “I will,” he promised. He folded the note and pushed it deep into his pocket. “You should try and get some rest though, you definitely need it.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep, but I’ll try,” Youngjo said, “thank you, Geonhak, this means the world to me.”

Geonhak smiled softly. “It’s the least I can do considering you’re the one keeping me alive,” he said. He retreated back to the door and took a seat on the floor.

Youngjo wrapped himself tightly in the blankets and hunkered down in bed. He never did manage to fall back asleep, too haunted by the image of his son. 

Geonhak stayed stock still on the floor until he was sure enough time had passed. He stood up and silently made his way out of the room. Doing his best to not alert the other vampires, he left through the back door and took off for the woods. Only then did he take the note out of his pocket and start following Ravn’s instructions. As he was nearing the city, he noticed the sense of hunger start to creep in. The farther he went, the stronger the smell of all the people who lived in the city became. With a shake of his head, he reread Ravn’s note and focused on not getting lost. 

Hwanwoong had let Geonhak almost out of his range before he went after him. He didn’t get any closer than that; he was simply curious as to who Youngjo was so set on protecting from him and Seoho.

Geonhak followed Ravn’s instructions to the letter and soon found himself in a town quite far away from the city. He walked down the narrow road, trying not to act too suspicious, as he searched for the house number he was given. It dawned on him that once he reached the house there wouldn’t really be a good way to determine if Dongju was safe, unless he camped out somewhere and watched all day. 

Hwanwoong had to get closer as the turns became more frequent. When Geonhak finally stopped, he crept closer, trying to figure out just who was so important to Ravn.

Geonhak looked up at the house. It was quite quaint and in a seemingly secure neighborhood. Slowly, he walked up to the door. There were no lights on but he could hear the heartbeats of the people inside.

Hwanwoong found himself silently climbing to the roof of the next house over to look into one of the windows. Through the window, he saw an older woman and a young boy. This was Ravn’s family.

Geonhak couldn’t see anything through the front windows. He glanced up at the house but there was no good place to be able to see into the upper floor. From what he could tell, both of the people in the house were safe. He still had a little bit of time so he rounded the house and walked through the backyard. The hunger was starting to claw at his stomach and a small piece of him wanted to rip down the back door and storm into the house. But he couldn’t do that, he couldn’t hurt anyone. 

From his perch on the roof, Hwanwoong could see Geonhak circling the backyard and he knew that the fledgling needed to get back to the mansion soon. He didn’t want to intervene and give himself away, but he would if he had to.

Geonhak was racking his brain for a way to see into the house better. He didn’t want to climb for fear of accidentally making too much noise, but it seemed like his only options. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized he had walked up to the backdoor and grabbed the knob until he tried to open it. Coming back to his senses, he leapt back from the door. He knew he should head back to the mansion but just the thought of the long trek was exhausting. Maybe if he found a house around here with just one person in it, it would be easier to sneak in and feed. That seemed like a good idea. It would be harder to catch him that way at least. He left the yard and started down the street again, listening to the heartbeats within each home. 

Hwanwoong followed Geonhak down the street, fully prepared to fight him out of the town if he made any attempt to bite someone. At least Ravn’s family was safe.

Geonhak finally found a house. He could only hear one heartbeat from someone who was sleeping upstairs. He rounded the house and was not surprised to find the back door locked. Maybe one of the windows would be unlocked instead. 

Hwanwoong grabbed Geonhak’s arm right as he went to check a window. “Not here,” he said quietly, “I’ll find you someone, c’mon.”

Geonhak panicked when someone grabbed his arm but it was just Hwanwoong. Hwanwoong? The vampire had followed him all the way out here? He didn’t have time to worry about that before he was being dragged away from the house. “Is it close?” he whimpered. Why couldn’t he just feed here? He was so hungry and there was no way he would get caught. 

“Don’t worry, it’s nearby, it just isn’t safe to do it right in the middle of town,” Hwanwoong said, pulling Geonhak gently, “there’s an overpass a few miles down the road; we can find someone there.”

Geonhak whimpered again. As they got closer to the overpass he picked up the scent of the people there. He tugged against Hwanwoong’s grip but it was too tight. When he finally caught sight of the people, everything came crashing down on him. “I-I can’t. I have to wait. Shouldn’t I wait?” he asked desperately. Even as he said it, he still struggled against Hwanwoong’s hold. His instincts were starting to overpower his judgment. 

“We won’t make it home if you wait,” Hwanwoong said regretfully, “but these guys are always desperate. They’ll do anything for a little money. I won’t let you hurt anyone, don’t worry.”

“You’ll pay them? No, no, no, you can’t do that,” Geonhak said. His knees buckled and he took a hard seat on the ground. He was so close to giving in, so close. 

“We don’t have a choice,” Hwanwoong said firmly, “stay here. If you move even an inch, I will kill you without blinking.” He left Geonhak sitting on the ground and approached the group of travellers.

Keonhee looked up when he was elbowed in the side. A rather nicely dressed man who he hadn’t seen before was approaching them. This ought to be good. 

Hwanwoong pulled a small bag of coins out of his pocket and grinned, flashing his fangs. “This belongs to whoever is willing to feed my friend over there,” he said, straight to the point.

Keonhee’s eyes lit up when he saw the bag. “Let me see that bag first and then we’ll talk,” he said. He wasn’t about to get a bunch of fake coins dumped on him for whatever feeding his friend entailed. 

Hwanwoong pulled a coin out of the bag and passed it over, not about to let go of it while he was outnumbered. “They’re all real,” he said.

Keonhee examined the coin for himself and shoved it in his pocket. “Why do you need us to feed your friend?” he asked. 

“Just one of you,” Hwanwoong said, “he needs fresh blood. That should be more than enough compensation and you won’t even feel a thing.”

Keonhee glance back and forth between the man and the bag. There was no way he could pass up the opportunity to make some money. They all needed to eat and rummaging for scraps only lasted so long. “Fine, I’ll help you. Leave the money with them,” he said. 

Hwanwoong tossed the bag of coins to one of the other men and waited for the taller man to follow him. “Geonhak,” he called, “I’ve got you dinner.”

Geonhak’s head snapped up. He stood up and closed the distance between him and the man in one large bound. Before he could stop himself, he sunk his teeth into the man’s neck and drank greedily. He could feel the man’s pulse gradually slowing down but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away. 

When Hwanwoong saw the man’s eyes start to roll back in his head, he forced Geonhak away from him. He licked over the man’s wounds while lowering him to the ground. 

Geonhak’s senses came crashing back when he saw Hwanwoong helping the man to the ground. “No! No, no, no. You said I wouldn’t hurt anyone,” he cried. He scrambled back over to the man to check on him for himself. 

“He’s okay, Geonhak,” Hwanwoong said, “his blood sugar was probably just too low. He’ll be fine.”

“He has to be, he _ has _ to be,” Geonhak said nervously. He didn’t know what he would with himself if he hurt someone. He was going to have to be much more careful from now on.

Hwanwoong propped the man up against a tree and licked over his wounds again. A few minutes later, he groaned and his eyes cracked open. 

“I’m so sorry. I’m really so sorry,” Geonhak rambled. “Relax, man, relax,” Keonhee mumbled, “no harm, no foul. Although you are a lot stronger than you look.” He wasn’t really concerned with what happened. They had enough money to eat for a week and that was all he cared about. 

“You’re good to walk back over on your own?” Hwanwoong asked, taking a step back. When the man nodded, he took Geonhak by the arm. “Time to go,” he said. 

Geonhak mumbled another apology before letting himself get dragged back towards the mansion. He had almost forgotten the reason he had even left in the first place. 

“Get some rest,” Hwanwoong said when they got back, “and don’t worry about the kid. He’s fine.”

Geonhak nodded. He had already decided he was going to go check tomorrow night just to make sure. Before he could go lay down, he had to talk to Ravn so he headed down to the basement. 

Youngjo was sitting up in bed, waiting anxiously for Geonhak to return. The second the door opened, his heart rate picked up. “How is he?” he asked, “is he okay?”

“Yeah, he’s okay. He’s still there with your mom. I couldn’t see them but there were two people in the house,” Geonhak said quietly.

Youngjo relaxed at that. “Thank you,” he said quietly. That made him feel so much better, knowing Dongju was safe. 

“Happy to help,” Geonhak mumbled. He turned around to go back upstairs. He definitely needed to lay down and get some rest. 

“It’s a child,” Hwanwoong told Seoho as he entered their bedroom, “Ravn has a son; that’s why he kept trying to get away and why he says it’s not safe here.”

“A child,” Seoho said with a hum, “well, it’s not safe to bring him here with Geonhak still here or even you for that matter. But never mind that, how did you figure this out?”

“He asked Geonhak to run an errand for him and I followed him,” Hwanwoong said, “he’s particularly averse to us being around the boy, but not the fledgling.”

“Interesting. I’m glad you followed him. Although I was starting to get worried, with how long you were taking,” Seoho said. His cheek still hadn’t fully healed yet and he would never forgive himself if Hwanwoong got caught in the sun.

“Geonhak started getting hungry, so I had to make sure he didn’t eat in the middle of town,” Hwanwoong said, “we paid off a group of highwaymen for a bite.”

“Thank you for stopping him. That could have disastrous if you hadn’t followed him,” Seoho said. He opened his arms for Hwanwoong again. 

“Yeah, I’m glad I followed him for a number of reasons,” Hwanwoong said, “Ravn’s only being complicit because Geonhak is here. Once he’s gone, I’m sure he’ll be trying to get away again. If we bring the boy here, problem solved.”

“That’s not a bad idea if we can get the boy here without tipping anyone else off. And Geonhak isn’t stable enough to bring a child here,” Seoho said, “we’ll talk about it more later.”

“That’s what I’m saying, once Geonhak’s gone,” Hwanwoong said, “I’m sure he won’t be here more than another week.”

“I know we said he was free to go but I don’t trust his control after today,” Seoho said, “although, judging by the fact that he didn’t walk so heavy footed when you got back, I’m not sure this will be an issue again.”

“He should have fed before he went out but he’s too sympathetic to Ravn,” Hwanwoong said, “he’s too sympathetic in general.”

“I think he would benefit from a relationship like ours,” Seoho said, “I wonder if he had anyone at home. We’ll have to ask later.”

“What, another vampire? Or dating his source?” Hwanwoong asked. 

“Dating his source. That would eliminate the guilt of feeding and I think he’d be a lot happier only feeding from one person,” Seoho said. 

“I think he’d probably always feel guilty about it, just like you, but I’ll see what I can do,” Hwanwoong said. 

Seoho sighed. “Thank you. Hopefully he likes the idea. Considering he became friendly with Ravn so quickly, I’m sure we could find someone for him if he doesn’t have someone at home. I’m inclined to believe he doesn’t since I haven’t heard him mention a significant other, or any family for that matter,” he said. 

“I’ll talk to him,” Hwanwoong said, “and I’ll see if he can talk to Ravn about maybe bringing the kid here once he’s gone home.”

“Thanks, baby,” Seoho said. He leaned over and kissed his boyfriend’s forehead. 

Downstairs, Youngjo couldn’t sleep. Now that he knew that Dongju was safe, he wanted nothing more than to hold his baby close. 

Geonhak laid curled in a ball in bed. Eventually he couldn’t take the suffocating silence, so he dragged himself to his feet and went outside. It was already starting to get light out but he still had some time. How bad could the sun really hurt anyway?

Hwanwoong perked up when he heard the outside door close and he looked at the clock. If Geonhak wasn’t back in an hour, he would go after him.

Geonhak didn’t go further than the treeline. He was too scared to leave the mansion’s yard so he sat himself under the first tree. He hadn’t wanted to stay at the mansion for very long but now he didn’t trust himself to go back home. It wasn’t like he really had anyone to go back to anyway. 

Dawn was close, so Hwanwoong slipped out of bed and went to find Geonhak. “Missing home?” he asked, sitting down next to the fledgling.

Geonhak watched Hwanwoong hesitantly but the vampire just sat down next to him. “I miss having control,” he said quietly, “half the things I do now…just aren’t me. I feel like an animal.”

“I felt like that at first too,” Hwanwoong said softly, “I killed a man my first night and I had absolutely no control over it. That’s why we were so adamant about getting and keeping Ravn in the first place.”

Geonhak was grateful that Hwanwoong had followed him into town. He probably would have killed someone otherwise. “Even feeding from Ravn just feels so _ wrong _,” he said. He paused before continuing in a small voice. “I don’t want to live for eternity like this.”

“I know he doesn’t seem it, but Seoho isn’t the biggest fan of all of this either,” Hwanwoong said, “that’s how our relationship started, actually. He was looking for a permanent blood source and I was looking for a place to stay and things just worked out.”

“He’s lucky he found you. It doesn’t seem like finding a permanent source is exactly easy,” Geonhak said. He couldn’t imagine forcing someone to do that for him. But if someone was fully willing? That could change things, but even then it didn't feel quite right. 

“It’s not,” Hwanwoong acquiesced, “but it’s the most desirable and sustainable option. He didn’t even broach the topic; I brought it up to him.”

Geonhak nodded, he could understand that. “How did you two meet?” he asked curiously. 

Hwanwoong sighed; it wasn’t exactly his favorite story to tell. “That overpass that we went to earlier? I used to be one of those guys that hangs out there,” he said, “except I hung out there permanently because I had nowhere else to go. Seoho found me there in the middle of winter, hypothermic, practically frozen to my blankets, and offered me a place to stay if I let him feed, and I haven’t looked back since.”

Geonhak fleetingly thought back to the man he had fed from at the overpass. “I never would have thought of a vampire saving someone,” he said quietly.

“He’s physically saved me twice, but I really count every day as another day he’s given me,” Hwanwoong said, “I bet if you go back to that spot, you’ll find someone willing to go with you. They’ll want something in return, of course, but it’s better than what we’ve done to Ravn.”

Geonhak paused for a moment before shaking his head. “I can’t do it. I couldn’t ask someone. And I know it would better than hurting other people but I can’t do it. I don’t want to hurt anyone else,” he said sadly.

“What do you plan on doing then?” Hwanwoong asked, “staying here and feeding from Ravn? Starving yourself until you go feral with bloodlust and kill everything you come across?”

Geonhak shuddered. He glanced up at the sun that was beginning to peak over the trees. “I don’t know,” he whispered, “I know I shouldn’t stay here but I’m scared too go anywhere there’s people.”

“So just find one person,” Hwanwoong said, standing up to go inside, “find one person that’s willing and go from there.”

Geonhak sighed sadly. “Does the sun really burn our skin?” he asked, not moving yet. 

“Horribly,” Hwanwoong said, “the blister on Seoho’s face is from just a split second of exposure. It doesn’t kill us, it just burns and hurts.”

Geonhak pulled himself to his feet to follow Hwanwoong inside. He trusted the vampire enough to not want to try it for himself. “What does kill us?” he asked quietly. 

“Nothing,” Hwanwoong said, “all the legends are lies. Stakes do nothing, silver just burns, garlic is a repellent but it won’t kill us.”

“Nothing? Nothing!? No, that can’t be right. There has to be something,” Geonhak said almost desperately. He knew he would be stuck like this for much longer than his human lifespan but he had still expected there to be some end. 

Hwanwoong sighed. “Obviously, there’s a way, but you clearly have an ulterior motive in asking me and I’m not going to feed into it.”

Geonhak narrowed his eyes. He should have known that Hwanwoong wouldn’t be the one to tell him. He knew Seoho probably heard the whole conversation and wouldn’t tell him either so that wasn’t an option. “Thanks for sitting with me. I’ll think about going to find someone,” he said pleasantly. Maybe he would talk to Ravn instead and get his opinion on finding someone. 

Hwanwoong just hummed and trudged upstairs to roll back into bed. He was exhausted. 

Geonhak descended into the basement. He knocked softly on Ravn’s door, hoping the man wasn’t still sleeping. 

“Come in,” Youngjo said, sitting up slightly. He had been about to finally fall asleep, but that could wait. 

“I’m really sorry to bother you,” Geonhak said quietly, “I-I’m not here to eat. Were you about to fall asleep? I can come back later. I just wanted your opinion on something.”

“It’s okay, Geonhak, you can come in,” Youngjo said. He trusted the fledgling to not jump him unexpectedly. “What’s going on?”

Geonhak stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He sank to the floor and leaned up against the wall. “I was just talking to Hwanwoong and he said I should just find one person to feed from, like they used to do. But I don’t even know how I’d go approaching someone and the thought of dragging someone else into this is horrible. On the flip side though, I don’t want to keep feeding from you, or anyone really, because I’m done hurting people. But Hwanwoong warned me that if I starve myself I would go on a rampage and kill who knows how many people and I can’t do that either. I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to live like this but I don’t have a way out. I’m sorry it’s so much, I just feel so...lost.” He felt horrible for dumping everything on Ravn but he didn’t have anyone else to talk to. 

“I think it’s a good idea,” Youngjo said, “I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who would be willing to help you out. Hell, I would be if I didn’t have to deal with the other two.”

Geonhak was almost hoping Ravn would disagree. “Hwanwoong brought me to a place the other day where people hang out. Someone there is probably desperate enough to come with me,” his head shot up and he stared at Ravn, “if I find two people maybe they’ll let you go home.”

“Some people genuinely enjoy it,” Youngjo said, “Hwanwoong does. And you and I both know that they’re never letting me go home.”

Geonhak deflated. “Thanks for your help and for listening. I really appreciate it,” he said sincerely, “I’ll let you get some rest now.” He pushed himself to his feet. 

Youngjo hesitated. “You could...stay...if you wanted,” he said slowly. He didn’t really want to be alone and Geonhak seemed like he needed the comfort too.

Geonhak paused and turned away from the door. “I’d like that but only if you’re sure,” he said. He actually felt relieved that Ravn invited him to stay. He could definitely use the company. 

Youngjo nodded and scooted over to allow Geonhak some space to sit or lay down if he wanted. 

Geonhak’s eyes widened slightly when Ravn shifted on the bed. “No, no, don’t move for me. I’m more than comfortable on the floor. Trust me, I’ve slept in worse places,” he said, sitting down again. 

“I’ve already moved,” Youngjo said, “you might as well take the spot so I didn’t exert myself in vain.”

Geonhak cracked a small smile. “Fine, you win this round, Ravn,” he said. He pushed himself to his feet and sat on the bed instead. 

“Please, don’t call me that,” Youngjo said, “you can use my real name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Geonhak said, “are you sure you’re okay with the other two overhearing?”

“I think they’re smart enough to know that they still shouldn’t use it even if they know what it is,” Youngjo said with a shrug, “it was only a matter of time anyway. For all I know, Hwanwoong could have glamoured it out of me weeks ago.”

Geonhak hummed. “Thanks for letting me stay. I really needed this,” he admitted quietly.

“I did too,” Youngjo said, “I miss...well, you know who I miss.”

Geonhak closed his eyes and nodded. “I could go back during the day and see if I could find out better how he’s doing. I’d have to camp out there for a little while though,” he said. 

“You would get burnt,” Youngjo said, “not worth it. As long as I know he’s alive, that’s all I need.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Geonhak mumbled to himself, “just let me know if you change your mind.” He muffled a yawn and finally gave in and laid down. 

“Have you seen Seoho’s face lately? I have to imagine even that little spot is pretty painful,” Youngjo said, “and anyway, my mother would probably try to kill you right away. She’s a little...protective.”

Seoho’s face did look pretty bad. It really wasn’t worth the risk. “That’s cute,” he commented, “that must be where you get it from.”

“I certainly hope not,” Youngjo said, “she’s a witch of a woman. I can’t even count the number of times she beat me within an inch of my life. Why do you think I became a bandit?”

Geonhak’s eyes flew open. “Oh, oh, I, uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize,” he mumbled. 

Youngjo waved him off. “That’s why I want him out of there,” he said quietly, “he’s an angel now, but I have no idea what she’s gonna do once he’s old enough to misbehave.”

Geonhak frowned. “The only reason it’s too dangerous for him here is because of me. If I go, I know they’ll let him come stay with you,” he said. 

“No,” Youngjo firmly, “it’s them I don’t trust, not you.” He didn’t want to talk about the nightmare, but it was fresh in his mind. 

Geonhak shifted nervously. “But they have control over themselves,” he said. He just wanted Youngjo to have his son back. 

“Do they?” Youngjo questioned, “because they have never once seemed to exert control that I’ve seen.”

“They at least figure out how to time when they eat so they don’t lose control and hurt people…” Geonhak trailed off. Maybe that was true for Seoho but Hwanwoong losing control was why he was in this position to begin with. 

“They also almost never leave the estate,” Youngjo said, “half the time, they don’t even go outside.”

Geonhak hummed. Now that Youngjo said it, he didn’t think he had ever seen Seoho leave the house. “Either way, it’s definitely not safe for him to be around me,” he said. 

“It’s not safe for him around any of you,” Youngjo said, “but its worst around the other two.”

Geonhak nodded. He grabbed one of the extra pillows and wrapped himself around it. He did his best to give Youngjo plenty of space although it was proving to be a little more difficult than he realized. 

“I miss him more than anything, but I know it’s not safe for him here,” Youngjo said with a heavy sigh. 

Geonhak wished he could empathize, wished he could offer some comfort, assure him it would be okay, anything. But he couldn’t, not when he didn’t understand. “You’ll get him back one day,” he promised. 

Youngjo sighed. He highly doubted that, but it was okay. Dongju deserved to be safe. 

That didn’t seem to have helped so Geonhak let a tense silence fall over them instead. He closed his eyes, hoping to finally get some rest. 

Youngjo forced himself to relax. He was having a hard time letting go of his son, but he knew he needed to for his own sake. It wasn’t healthy to keep dwelling. 

At some point Geonhak rolled over and curled up into as small of a ball as he could. He didn’t get that much sleep but he was at least able to doze off.

Youngjo did eventually fall asleep. When he woke, his face was pressed against Geonhak’s back, and he didn’t even have the energy to move away. 

Geonhak stilled when he felt Youngjo press against his back. This definitely wasn’t intentional but he felt bad waking the older man up. He just laid stock still and waited for Youngjo to wake up and move on his own.

Despite his lack of warmth, Geonhak was incredibly comfortable and Youngjo found himself close to falling back asleep. He was going to be mortified if the vampire woke up to this. 

Geonhak relaxed when he heard Youngjo’s breathing start to even out again. He focused on the man’s steady heartbeat and slowly dozed off again.

Youngjo’s hand came up and clenched in the back of Geonhak’s shirt. He was incredibly comfortable like this. 

Geonhak tensed up again when Youngjo grabbed onto his shirt. At least the man was able to get some rest. He forced himself to relax so he didn’t accidentally wake Youngjo up.

When dusk fell, Hwanwoong headed downstairs to feed and was surprised at what he found. It made him so jealous that Geonhak could get Ravn to trust him in seconds and wouldn’t even look at himself and Seoho.

Geonhak’s eyes flew open when he heard footsteps. He tensed up when he saw Hwanwoong standing in the room, not looking happy. He shrunk in on himself, curling into an even tighter ball. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. After their last conversation, he didn’t want Hwanwoong to think he was trying to steal Youngjo.

“For what?” Hwanwoong asked, “if he lets you near him, what am I supposed to do about it?”

“He’s yours,” Geonhak said in a small voice. It left a bad feeling in his stomach, but it was true. 

“I don’t _ own _ him,” Hwanwoong said, “if he wants you around, so be it.”

“Please don’t be angry with him,” Geonhak begged, “I know he hasn’t been cooperative but he’s hurting a lot.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Hwanwoong questioned, “I’m hurting too. Doesn’t that matter?”

Geonhak paused. “Of course it matters but don’t be angry with him. This isn’t his fault and you’re going to make it harder on both of you,” he said gently. 

“It could be a hell of a lot easier too,” Hwanwoong said, “but unfortunately, I have a conscience.”

“Do you?” Geonhak asked carefully. He uncurled himself slightly, trying to put some barrier between Youngjo and Hwanwoong. 

“Of course I do,” Hwanwoong said, “I don’t _ like _doing this, but Seoho’s survival outweighs his for me.”

Geonhak hummed. “Just take it easy on him,” he requested, “both of you.”

“We’re trying,” Hwanwoong said, “there’s only so much easy we can take when he tries running away every couple of days.”

“He hasn’t tried to run since I’ve been here. I know none of you want to but if you sat down and talked with him, you’d realize he actually doesn’t mind doing this,” Geonhak said. 

“No, he just doesn't mind doing it for you,” Hwanwoong said, “he despises the two of us, and with good reason.”

“Then why not let him go home and follow your own advice?” Geonhak asked, “I know he wouldn’t tell his family about this and the people at the overpass already know about you.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Hwanwoong said uneasily, “I’m sure you could tell when you fed at the overpass, but Ravn has the purest blood that either Seoho or I have ever tasted. He’s an invaluable resource.”

Geonhak watched Hwanwoong uncertainly. “Really? Even Seoho?” he asked, “couldn’t you find someone else that has pure blood? Seoho has to be able to tell.”

“A search like that could take years,” Hwanwoong said, “the fact that we found him by chance like we did is an astounding amount of luck.”

Geonhak sighed. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with this conversation. He stretched out more, blocking Youngjo as much as possible. “You should probably come back when he’s awake,” he said. 

Youngjo had woken up somewhere in the middle of this conversation, but he stayed stock still, hoping neither vampire realized. He hadn’t known that his blood was pure; he thought Hwanwoong and Seoho were just keeping him to be selfish.

Geonhak watched Hwanwoong nervously. The vampire wasn’t leaving and he had a funny feeling he wasn’t going to. 

“He is awake,” Hwanwoong said finally, “and I’m starving, so if you don’t mind.”

Geonhak’s eyes widened. He wondered how much of the conversation Youngjo had overheard. Regretfully, he stood up from the bed and moved out of the way, mumbling an apology. 

Youngjo sighed and opened his eyes. “I’m not getting up, so you can come down here,” he said. 

Geonhak slipped out of the room. He didn’t think he would have enough control not to jump on Youngjo when he smelled the blood. Maybe he would take a short little walk around the mansion before going back downstairs. 

Hwanwoong sat down in the spot that Geonhak had vacated. Not wanting to disturb Ravn more than necessary, he pulled one of his arms up and bit into his wrist. 

Even halfway across the house, Geonhak could smell Youngjo’s blood. Growling quietly to himself, he decided to take his walk outside. 

Hwanwoong drank slowly, not wanting to overwhelm Ravn. “So how much of that did you hear?” he asked when he pulled away. “Most of it,” Youngjo admitted. 

Geonhak took off in a light jog, heading to his favorite tree. Behind him, he heard the door open and he hoped Seoho didn’t come after him.

“I didn’t realize that was why it was so important to you that I stay,” Youngjo continued, “I wouldn’t have fought so hard if I knew.”

Geonhak didn’t hear any footsteps and he took that as a good sign. When he finally reached the tree, he scaled it effortlessly and settled himself among the branches. 

“Do you still think it’s unsafe?” Hwanwoong asked cautiously and Youngjo hummed immediately. “With two fledglings? Absolutely.”

Geonhak stared at the brightly lit city. He could never go back but he couldn’t stay here either. He needed to get as far away from here as possible. As much as he wanted to protect Youngjo, it just wasn’t feasible. 

“I’m barely a fledgling,” Hwanwoong protested, “I haven’t lost control in weeks.” Youngjo hummed again. That was true. “I still...I just can’t,” he said.

Geonhak made up his mind. He would go back to the mansion one last time and apologize to Youngjo and then he was off. Where to he wasn’t sure but he would figure it out. As long as he was far away from people so he couldn’t hurt anyone else, he didn’t care where he ended up. 

“You can’t or you don’t want to?” Hwanwoong asked pointedly. Youngjo pulled his arm away and tucked it back safely under the blanket. “I don’t want anyone to see me like this,” he admitted. 

Geonhak stayed in the tree for another few minutes before climbing down. He wanted to leave for good before the sun came up so he could make some headway tonight. When he got back to the mansion, he wasn’t surprised to find Seoho in the sitting room. 

“I’m so weak I can barely move some days,” Youngjo continued, “and I don’t want...I don’t want my son to see that, okay?”

“I...I...I’m sorry but I can’t be here anymore,” Geonhak said. Seoho glanced up at the fledgling sympathetically. “Going home?” he asked. Geonhak shook his head. “I don’t know where I’m going,” he admitted, “it just has to be somewhere far.” Seoho frowned. “Are you sure you’re prepared enough to live on your own?” he asked. Geonhak didn’t respond. 

“You really seem to care about him a lot,” Hwanwoong said, “and yet you’re leaving him with the, quote, witch of a woman that you call your mother. If you’d just let us bring him here, you wouldn’t have to worry anymore. Once Geonhak leaves, it’ll be safer and you’ll be healthier.”

“Geonhak, you’re going to have to find a permanent source or learn how to be subtle when you hunt. It takes a lot of self control,” Seoho warned. “I know, I know, but I can do it. I’m strong enough now,” Geonhak insisted, “I won’t hurt anyone else. I won’t let myself.” “And if you try and isolate yourself and end up starving yourself then what? You’re going to subject yourself to unnecessary suffering for eternity. I know it’s hard but you need to think about this logically,” Seoho said. Geonhak’s mouth pressed into a line. 

Youngjo narrowed his eyes. “You need to stop eavesdropping on conversations that are clearly not for you.”

“I’m leaving tonight,” Geonhak said. Seoho knew better than to stop the fledgling. “Be careful. And make sure to take care of yourself. If you get caught, the punishment will be severe,” he said. Geonhak nodded. Seoho wasn’t going to bother telling the fledgling how to turn someone. It would be better for him to kill people than create more vampires. 

“Do you want to be comfortable and happy here or do you want to be miserable for the rest of your life?” Hwanwoong asked. Youngjo didn’t grace that with an answer. 

“How many more of us are there?” Geonhak asked. Seoho smiled sadly. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure. Many of us were killed in the crusades and it’s hard to say how many survived. You won’t run into any more here though,” he said. “Killed? How? By who?” Geonhak asked. Seoho shook his head. “That’s not for you to worry about. It happened a long time ago and if you’re careful and smart, it won’t happen again,” he replied. 

“I was just trying to be a good dad and you two took that away from me,” Youngjo said finally, “if you don’t mind, I’m kind of tired.”

“You’ve seen a lot,” Geonhak commented, almost to himself. “I’ve seen too much,” Seoho said, “but it’s all in the past now, where it belongs.” Geonhak studied Seoho, even though the vampire was clearly very young when he was turned, he could see the strain all the years of being a vampire had put on him. “Thank you for letting me stay here. And for helping me,” Geonhak said sincerely. Seoho smiled softly. “You’re welcome to come back if you need anything,” he said. 

Hwanwoong sighed, but he left Ravn alone. It was the least he could do. Instead, he went searching for his boyfriend. 

Seoho looked up when Hwanwoong came upstairs. “Geonhak’s going to be leaving tonight. Is there anything else you think he should know?” he asked. Geonhak shifted on his feet nervously. 

Hwanwoong studies the fledgling for a moment. “Take some money with you,” he said finally, “lord knows we have more than enough. And don't leave without telling Ravn.”

Geonhak nodded. “I will, thank you. I’m going to go talk to him now,” he said. He went down to Youngjo’s bedroom and knocked gently on the door. 

“Come in,” Youngjo said, sitting up. He wasn’t really expecting Geonhak to come back, so he was surprised when the fledgling opened the door. 

“I, um, I decided that I’m not going to stay here any longer. I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you, especially with your son. I hope you’re safe here and that they take care of you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I don’t know if I’ll ever come back so I guess this is goodbye,” Geonhak rambled. 

Youngjo was shocked. “You’re leaving already?” he asked weakly. 

Geonhak nodded solemnly. “I’m really sorry. I don’t want to desert you but I can’t stay here any longer,” he said. He dropped his eyes to the floor, not able to look at Youngjo.

“Oh,” Youngjo said faintly. He had known that Geonhak was going to leave sooner or later, but he thought that they had more time.

“Thank you for everything, really. I’m really sorry I couldn’t stay longer,” Geonhak said sadly. He forced himself to turn around and grab the door handle. He didn’t think it would be this hard to leave.

Youngjo didn’t know what to think. Geonhak leaving stung more than he expected it to, especially after how close they’d just been. Had he done something to make the fledgling leave?

Geonhak mumbled one last apology before pushing the door open and heading upstairs. If he didn’t leave now, he never would. He grabbed the coin purse that was sitting on the table. Wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, he headed out the back door. The moment his foot hit the grass he took off as fast as he could. He needed to get as far away as possible before he changed his mind. 

Youngjo didn't cry. That would be senseless; he barely even knew Geonhak. Instead, he slowly laid back down, pulling the blanket up to his ears and staring blankly as the wall until the sun started to come up. 

Geonhak knew he should have eaten before he left but how could he have asked that of Youngjo? Thankfully the sun was coming up just as his hunger was starting to get bad. He holed himself up under a tree and curled up in the shadows.

Youngjo felt listless. Now that Geonhak was gone, he was sure he was back to a life of brutal, painful feedings and grief for his son. 

Seoho went downstairs to feed but when he saw Ravn curled up in a ball facing the wall, he decided against it. “He’s taking this very hard,” he told Hwanwoong, “I’m going to hunt until he’s back to normal.”

“Geonhak wasn’t even here for a week,” Hwanwoong said incredulously, “he’s just being a baby.”

Seoho rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. There’s something going on. Just keep an eye on him and play nice,” he said. 

“You know, the sooner we go get the kid, the sooner this will all be better,” Hwanwoong nudged. 

Seoho sighed. “Yeah, that probably would make things better. Although how are we supposed to get him away from the grandmother? Getting caught isn’t worth getting the kid,” he said. 

“From what I overheard him telling Geonhak, his mother isn’t exactly the caring type. And besides, if we get caught, it’s just another kidnapping. The town is so far away from here that it wouldn’t even matter,” Hwanwoong said. 

“We both can’t leave,” Seoho said, “can I trust you not to get caught? I’m not doubting your abilities but I don’t know what I would do with myself if you got caught.”

“I’m less likely to get caught than you are,” Hwanwoong said. For once, being small was advantageous. 

Seoho thought about it for a minute. “No, I’ve changed my mind. It’s going to be too dangerous for you. I’ll be able to get myself out of there without getting hurt if the mother tries anything. I doubt she’ll be prepared for a vampire anyway,” he said, “you can stay here and keep an eye on Ravn.”

Hwanwoong sighed but didn’t argued. “Do you want me to write out the directions for you?” He asked. 

“Please,” Seoho said, “I’ll leave when the sun sets and I’ll be back before it rises.” There was no way he was getting caught out in the sun again for Ravn. 

Hwanwoong scribbled directions out on a piece of paper. “I’m going to feed a bit and keep an eye on him. I don’t know what the boy’s name is, but he’s absolutely tiny, so be careful,” he said, “Ravn will kill us if we let anything happen to him.”

“Poor kid must be miniscule if you think he’s tiny,” Seoho teased. He glanced over the directions before folding the paper up. “And I promise I’ll be careful. It’s not the most dangerous mission I’ve ever had to go on so I’m not particularly worried.”

Hwanwoong huffed, pouting at Seoho’s teasing. “I’m going downstairs now,” he announced, heading for the stairs.

Seoho chuckled. He still had a few hours to wait until he could even attempt to leave the mansion so he busied himself getting ready. He got changed and tucked the pendant Hwanwoong had gotten him when they first got together under his shirt for safe keeping. 

Hwanwoong quietly slipped into Ravn’s room, taking note of the man’s frame curled under the heavy blanket. He appeared to be asleep, so the vampire took a seat in the armchair across the room.

When the sun finally started to set, Seoho left the mansion. “I love you and I’ll be home soon,” he said. He glanced at the directions one last time before taking off through the trees.

Hwanwoong hummed softly, to acknowledge Seoho. Ravn should be awake soon so he could feed. 

Seoho hadn’t been this far away from his home in a long time. The change of scenery was nice and all but he prefered to be somewhere much safer. Eventually he found Ravn’s neighborhood. Now all he had to do was find the right house.

Like every night, Dongju sat up in bed, staring out his window. The old lady would kill him if she found him not asleep, but he didn’t care. She told him that his Papa was in the stars now, so he was trying to find him. 

Seoho finally found the house. There was a light on downstairs but he knew the boy must be upstairs. He rounded the house and paused for a moment before scaling it. He settled on the roof and waited to see if the woman heard anything. 

Dongju jumped when he heard something scrape the side of the house. He pulled his blanket up, still staring at the stars. 

Seoho heard the boy’s heart rate pick up and he knew he had scared him. Thankfully, the woman didn’t move from downstairs so he made his move. Quickly, he slid open the window and climbed inside, hoping the boy didn’t scream. “I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Seoho and I want to help you. I know where your dad is and I’m going to bring you to him,” he said. 

Dongju nearly fell off the bed in shock when his window slid open and a man appeared in the frame. It was so dark that he couldn’t see his face, only able to hear his voice. He didn’t really understand what he said, only that he said something about his dad. Scared out of his mind, Dongju’s eyes welled up and he started to wail.

Oh no, this wasn’t good. Seoho heard footsteps on the stairs and he did the only thing he could: he grabbed the boy and leapt out the window. He took off running, sobbing boy in his arms, until they were a safe distance into the woods. “I’m sorry. I know you’re scared right now, but I promise I’m going to help you. I’m going to bring you to your dad and he’s going to make everything better,” he soothed.

Dongju screamed when he was ripped from his bed and carried off into the night. He tried to fight against this monster that had taken him, but he was simply too little to get away. 

Seoho loosened his grip just enough that the boy wouldn’t suffocate but couldn’t run away. “I’m sorry, kiddo, I’m sorry. But we’re gonna go find your dad okay? We’ll go see him soon,” he promised. His chest ached with guilt.

Dongju whimpered. They were in the dark woods now and even he knew it was safer to be with this strange demon than on his own. He just wanted his Papa. 

“Let’s go see Dad,” Seoho said. He held the boy against himself and took off for the mansion. He couldn’t run as fast as usual with the boy in his arms but they were still able to make a good pace. 

Hwanwoong sat up straight when he heard Seoho return with the boy. He could hear the child screaming and wailing without even straining himself and he was sure that Ravn would be able to also. He got up ready to do damage control. 

“He’s in here. Dad’s right downstairs,” Seoho said. He opened the back door and didn’t even acknowledge Hwanwoong in his mad dash to get to Ravn’s room. 

Youngjo woke up to the door slamming open and a child crying. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, a crying toddler was shoved into his arms. He instinctively hugged the baby tight, not even realizing that it was in fact his _ own _child until he heard the weak “Papa.” He looked up at Hwanwoong and Seoho, glaring darkly. “What did you do?” he demanded slowly. 

Seoho stepped in front of Hwanwoong. “I brought you your son,” he said, “you weren’t happy without him and it’s safe for him here now.”

Youngjo was about to go off on Seoho, but he had more important things to worry about at the moment. Dongju was clinging to him tightly, still sobbing. He turned his attention to the toddler, rubbing his back in an attempt to get him to calm down. 

Seoho turned his attention to Hwanwoong. “You can go upstairs, love. I don’t want him to take his anger out on you. You still need to feed from him,” he said quietly. 

“You can both go,” Youngjo said coldly, “I think you’ve done more than enough damage for one night.”

Seoho wasn’t going to protest. He’d rather not be around Ravn until he had cooled off. He grabbed Hwanwoong’s hand and led him upstairs. 

When Dongju finally calmed down and stopped crying, Youngjo lowered him to his lap from his shoulder. “I’m sorry the bad man scared you,” he said. 

Seoho brought Hwanwoong upstairs and gave him a chaste kiss. “I think I’m going to go downstairs for a little while,” he said quietly. 

“Papa, I missed you,” Dongju whimpered, pressing as close to his father as he could. “Papa missed you too, Doongdoongie,” Youngjo said.

Seoho dropped Hwanwoong’s hand and disappeared deep into the house. He had one room where the walls were built thicker to muffle the noise and that was where he went. 

Youngjo was absolutely livid by the time Dongju fell asleep. He couldn’t believe that Hwanwoong and Seoho had gone so far as to kidnap his son.

Seoho knew Ravn would be angry but he had hoped the man would come around and be happy he had his son. It made it that much harder that he had had to kidnap someone again. Resting his head in his hands, he tried to distract himself by thinking of what they were going to do if Ravn refused to be a source any longer. 

Youngjo was sick and tired of this bullshit. He was going to give Seoho and Hwanwoong one more chance to tell him the truth about everything or else he was leaving for good. This was the final straw. 

Seoho wasn’t sure how long he was downstairs for but at least he had a plan if everything worked out. He knew he needed to feed soon so he dragged himself upstairs and was disappointed to find the sun still out. 

“Both of you, come here,” Youngjo said quietly. He didn’t want to wake Dongju but they clearly needed to talk.

Here it came. Seoho silently made his way downstairs and positioned himself in front of Hwanwoong again. He watched Ravn, waiting for the older man to explode.

Youngjo eyed the two of them critically. “I want an explanation of everything,” he said, “top to bottom, why I’m here, why I can’t leave, why you thought abducting my son was a smart decision. Full transparency.”

“We’ve been keeping you because it’s safer for us to have a source here rather than hunting. If we get caught, it’ll create a worldwide panic and a full blown hunt for all of us. People don’t know what to do with vampires when they catch us and I don’t particularly want to go through that again. We brought your son here in the hopes that you would be happier and more willing to stay. And so that he is away from your mother,” Seoho paused for a moment before continuing. “You can leave. It’s not fair for us to keep you here when you clearly would rather go home. Especially when we can find someone who will stay more willingly.”

“Hwanwoong said something about me being pure of blood,” Youngjo prompted, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes, that’s true,” Seoho said, “the more pure the blood of the person we drink from, the longer we can go between feedings. It doesn’t enhance our abilities in any way but we don’t have to eat as much to maintain our strength. It’s more desirable for us at least and it’s typically more desirable from the human’s perspective too.”

“So the next person you drag here is going to suffer even more?” Youngjo questioned, eyebrows furrowed. He wasn’t going to reveal his disadvantage yet; that now that Dongju was away from his grandmother, they had nowhere to go. 

“We’re going to be careful this time,” Seoho said, “we were starting to get desperate when we found you and we didn’t want to ruin our chances. We probably won’t even find someone from this city. And I have enough control that they won’t suffer more.”

“You’re both incredibly violent when you feed,” Youngjo said, “so forgive me if I have a hard time believing that.”

Seoho frowned. “I’m sorry. My intentions haven’t been to hurt you but after centuries of… fending for myself, I’ve developed some bad habits that I haven’t been able to shake. Hwanwoong has only had me as an example which has put him at his own disadvantage. We truly don’t want to hurt you, not when you’re so vital to us.”

“Geonhak also only had you two as an example, but somehow, he managed to not be a violent asshole,” Youngjo said, cocking an eyebrow. 

“Geonhak only lived with us for a few days. And thankfully I was able to turn him just enough to save his life, yet still keep most of his human personalities. And judging by how he acts, he’s very compassionate,” Seoho said. 

“I just can’t comprehend how you thought abducting my child was going to make you look any better,” Youngjo said. 

“I’m long past trying to make myself look better,” Seoho said, “we just thought you might be happier with your son here. I know the main concern was safety but with Geonhak gone, you shouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

“I felt safer in three days with Geonhak than I ever have with the two of you and I don’t understand how you thought bringing my son into this was going to do anything but make that worse,” Youngjo said, “but it doesn’t matter. We’re leaving in the morning.”

“There will be severe repercussions for exposing us and our location and I hope you are well aware of the consequences if you do,” Seoho said, glancing down at the boy and back up to Ravn, “now is there anything else?”

Youngjo rolled his eyes. Like anyone would even believe him. People rarely believed in vampires anymore. “No, that’s it,” he said coldly.

“I’m going to hunt,” Seoho told Hwanwoong, “take advantage of him while he’s still here.” He had nothing else to say so he left the room. As uncertain as he was about Ravn wandering free with the knowledge he held, he was looking forward to the quiet he and Hwanwoong would have until they brought in someone new.

“Touch me and I will drag you into the sunlight with me,” Youngjo threatened as he slipped out of bed and started to collect the few clothing items he’d amassed while he was there.

“He’s not strong enough for that,” Seoho reminded Hwanwoong, “and he’ll regret the day he even attempts to hurt you.” With that, he was off into the woods to find an unsuspecting hiker.

Hwanwoong was stuck between the two. He really did need to feed soon, but he was almost positive that Youngjo would absolutely go through with his threat. He heaved a sigh and headed upstairs. 

When Seoho returned, he found Hwanwoong upstairs in their bedroom. He took one look at his boyfriend and his mood darkened. “You didn’t feed,” he said. It wasn’t a question. Ravn was not getting off on the last day he was here with all the trouble they had gone through, especially when he admitted he didn’t mind it.

“Seoho, don’t,” Hwanwoong pleaded, stopping his boyfriend with a hand on his chest, “it’s not worth it. I’ll be fine.”

“It’s _ not _ fine. He does not run the show here and I’m not letting someone who threatened you get away with it,” Seoho growled.

“He’s in protective dad mode right now,” Hwanwoong said gently, “everything you try to throw at him, he’ll just throw back. Not worth it.”

“You can glamour him again. He won’t be able to stop you then,” Seoho said, “I don’t want you to have to hunt if I can help it.”

“I’m not doing that to him again,” Hwanwoong said firmly, “it’s not worth it.”

Seoho put his hands up in surrender. “Fine. I’ll go out with you when you’re ready,” he said. He pulled away from Hwanwoong so he could get changed.

“I’m not gonna bite him in front of his kid, Seoho,” Hwanwoong said, “even you have to understand why that’s a dick move.”

“I’m not really concerned with that at this point,” Seoho said honestly, “I’m sick of him thinking he can run the show.”

“Well, I’m not going to scar a little kid for life just so you two can have a dick-swinging contest,” Hwanwoong said, “do that on your own time.”

Seoho narrowed his eyes. “It’s not about having a ‘dick-swinging contest’ as you so eloquently call it. It’s about him _ threatening _you. I am not going to play games with a human when your safety is concerned,” he said. 

“It’s not like I would die,” Hwanwoong said, “you need to _ chill out _ or there isn’t going to be a me for you to be concerned about at all.”

Seoho stilled. “You wouldn’t leave,” he said, “not after everything we’ve been through and especially not because of him.”

“No,” Hwanwoong admitted, “but I’d be pretty fucking angry and probably toss you in the doghouse for a bit.”

Seoho smirked. “I’d like to see you try,” he challenged. He flopped down onto the bed and rolled onto his side. 

“Oh, you know better than to try me when I’m mad,” Hwanwoong said. He pulled no punches when he was truly angry.

Seoho let the smirk fall off of his face. “I know, I know,” he acquiesced, “now come lay down with me, the bed is cold.” 

“I’m not going to make it any warmer,” Hwanwoong said, but he laid down anyway. It was going to be daylight soon and he didn’t want to be awake when Ravn left. 

Seoho scooted over and wrapped Hwanwoong in his arms. “I’m sorry I got angry but I can’t believe he had the audacity to threaten you like that,” he said quietly. 

“He’s in protective dad mode,” Hwanwoong said again, “we fucked with his kid and I can respect that he’s livid.”

Seoho sighed. “He would have never seen that kid again if it weren’t for us,” he said. 

“He also would have never been prevented from reaching him in the first place if it weren’t for us,” Hwanwoong reminded him, “as much as I do still think it was the right thing to do, for him and for the kid, you have to admit that it was a messy fix.”

Seoho nodded. “At least it’s over now. And after tomorrow, we’ll never have to see him ever again,” he said, “I’ve been trying to figure out how to bring someone here and the more I think about it, the less I like the idea.”

“We still have a few days before we really need to worry,” Hwanwoong said, “you’ll be able to think better when you’re less angry too.”

Seoho hummed. He leaned closer and pressed a kiss to Hwanwoong’s neck. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I’ve ruined everything,” he said quietly. 

“You haven’t ruined anything,” Hwanwoong breathed, “we’ll be okay.” Downstairs, Youngjo couldn’t wait any longer. Everything was packed in a small satchel he had found and he had used the loose sheet off the bed to fashion a sort of sling to carry Dongju easier. For the first time, he exited the room and the building out the front door and walked straight into the woods. 

Seoho hid his face more when he heard Ravn moving around the house. He tensed up when the door opened and closed and couldn’t relax even when he could no longer hear the man’s footsteps. “He’s gone,” he whispered.

Youngjo didn’t really know where he was headed. His first order of business was getting far enough away from the mansion to feel safe, which was a feat in and of itself. He hadn’t realized just how deep into the woods it was. 

Seoho didn’t know what to think. He had never revealed his identity to someone and let them walk away from him before. He was terrified Ravn would somehow get them exposed and angry people would raid their home and take Hwanwoong away from him. He knew things were so much different now but he still couldn’t help but fear that happening again. 

Youngjo walked clear through the day, only stopping for some water around noon. He wet part of the sheet and tucked it over Dongju’s head to keep the toddler somewhat cool before trekking on. It wasn’t long before he found an area that he did recognize and was on the path back toward his hometown. He had no intentions of going back to his mother’s house, but he did want to be somewhere familiar. 

Seoho didn’t move. He was scared if he let go of Hwanwoong he would lose him forever. It was a ridiculous fear but he couldn’t help it. He thought he was going to be relieved to have the house back to themselves but that was far from the case. 

“Papa, hungry,” Dongju whined. He wiggled in his sling, nearly pulling it loose. “I’ll find us food soon, baby, I promise,” Youngjo said, trying to calm his son. Not even a few minutes later, they stumbled upon a small camp. 

Keonhee sat leaning against the wall, laughing along with his friends. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a man approaching them. He was a little hesitant but judging by the small bag the man was carrying and the kid on his front, he was obviously in a tight spot. 

Youngjo was hesitant to approach the camp, as he didn’t have anything to offer for a few bites of the meat he could smell cooking. Dongju could clearly smell it too, if the way he peeked up was any indication. 

“It doesn’t look like he’s got much.” Keonhee hummed. “You know my rule about kids,” he said. 

“Can we help you with something?” he called to the man. 

Youngjo flinched, not having expected one of the men to call out to him. “No,” he said, “we’re just passing through.”

“When’s the last time that kid ate?” Keonhee asked next. They didn’t tend to share with people just passing through, but kids were the exception. 

“Yesterday,” Youngjo said with a sigh, “so if you could point me in the direction of a stream, that’d be very helpful.” 

“Come have a seat,” Keonhee said, “we have some water for both of you. I don’t know if there will be enough to eat for both of you, but there’s definitely some for the little guy.”

Youngjo heaved a sigh of relief and walked toward the group. When he crouched down, he finally untied the sheet and let Dongju go free. The boy immediately crawled into his lap, shy in the face of strangers. 

Keonhee nodded to one of his friends to get some water for the man and his son. “What brings you around here?” he asked curiously. He turned over the meat. It was almost done cooking and they’d be able to eat soon.

“Trying to get to somewhere familiar,” Youngjo said cryptically, “we just lost the place we were staying.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Keonhee said sympathetically. He knew what it was like to lose a place to stay and end up on the street. 

Keonhee passed the cup of water to the man. “It’s almost ready, Little Guy,” Keonhee said when he saw the boy peeking out from the man’s lap, “which pieces do you want?”

“Oh, he’ll eat just about anything,” Youngjo said, “here, Doongdoongie, drink up.” He helped Dongju drink some water before passing the cup back. 

“Doongdoongie, that’s a cute nickname,” Keonhee commented. When the meat was done cooking, he put a couple pieces on a plate and passed it to the man. He finished distributing the meat to the rest of the people around the fire and sat back to eat his own food. 

Youngjo took the plate and started pulling the meat into smaller pieces. He fed Dongju one piece at a time, making sure the boy was full before he even thought about feeding himself. 

“How old is he?” Keonhee asked curiously. He had such a soft spot for kids and he never got the chance to see kids around here so he was enjoying the few minutes he had. 

“He’s two,” Youngjo replied, “roughly.” He wasn’t exactly sure when Dongju’s birthday was, except that it was during the winter, just after the solstice.

Keonhee smiled softly. “He’s adorable,” he commented. He suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched and he glanced up. In the distance, he saw Geonhak waiting in the shadows. He made to stand up but was surprised to see the vampire start backing away further rather than waiting for him.

Youngjo sighed when he saw Dongju yawn. He wished they could set up camp here, but again, they had nothing to offer. “We should keep moving,” he said, “thank you for feeding him; that was very kind of you.”

“Hey, we look out for our own,” Keonhee said, “if you ever need anything else, we’re always here. It’s getting late though. If you need a safe place to crash, you can stay.” He put his plate down and went to stand up. As he got a different view of the man’s neck, he caught sight of small puncture wounds littering the base. His hand came up to rub his own neck and he glanced up at the woods.

“Are you sure?” Youngjo asked, “we wouldn’t want to impose.” They didn’t even really have anything to sleep with or on except the one sheet and some clothes. 

“Of course!” Keonhee said, “I’ll be right back and I’ll help you get set up.” He excused himself and walked over to where Geonhak was waiting. The rest of the people around the fire slowly began to clean up and disperse. 

Youngjo picked Dongju up and moved a little ways away from the camp. The warmth of the fire still reached them, but they weren’t imposing anymore. “You tired, bubba?” He asked his son, who nodded. 

“What’s going on? You’re acting weird,” Keonhee said when he approached Geonhak. “I-I know him. The man you were eating with. I know him,” the vampire replied shakily. Keonhee tilted his head curiously. “How?” he asked. “We came from the same house,” Geonhak said quietly. 

Dongju fell asleep not long after that, curled up in Youngjo’s lap under the sheet. Youngjo wasn’t much farther behind, but he wanted to talk to the other man one more time to thank him again. 

“He’s staying tonight if you wanna come say hi,” Keonhee said. “I don’t know; we’ll see,” Geonhak said. He leaned over and bit into Keonhee’s neck. The man moaned quietly and pushed his neck more insistently against Geonhak’s mouth. The vampire ignored him tonight, simply drinking as much as he knew was safe before pulling away and licking over the wound. He supported Keonhee so the man wouldn’t fall over.

As much as Youngjo wanted to stay up and thank the man for helping him and Dongju, he simply couldn’t. He’d been awake for well over twenty-four hours now and it was taking its toll. 

“Go take care of him,” Geonhak said, gently guiding Keonhee away from himself when he knew the man was stable. “Alright, fine,” he said. He grabbed Geonhak’s hand and tugged the vampire with him back to the camp, despite his protests and near escape. 

Youngjo startled awake when he heard something crashing through the nearby woods. He held Dongju close and stayed stock still, hoping the creature would move on.

Geonhak finally managed to pull away from Keonhee just as the man dragged him out of the woods. He scrambled back into the shadows, not sure if Youngjo saw him or not, he didn’t think he could face the man, not now.

“Who’s there?” Youngjo called out nervously. He didn’t want to leave Dongju to investigate, but he also didn’t want to bring the boy with him. 

Keonhee kept walking towards the camp. “Sorry about this. Geonhak, stop being shy and come say hello,” he called. He threw another piece of wood on the fire and started to clean up from dinner.

“...Geonhak?” Youngjo repeated weakly. It couldn’t be the same Geonhak, could it? There was no way.

Geonhak growled quietly. He stepped back out of the woods and slowly made his way towards where the men were sitting around a fire. “Hi, Youngjo,” he greeted quietly when he got closer. 

“No, I’m hallucinating,” Youngjo said, immediately in denial. There was no way Geonhak was actually here, in this very same camp. It wasn’t possible. 

Geonhak stopped in his tracks and just watched Youngjo. He was hesitant of the man. Not sure if he would be angry with him or even actually want to see him. “Get over here,” Keonhee whined, “I wanna go to sleep.” “You don’t need me for that,” Geonhak replied softly. 

Youngjo was in shock. Geonhak was really here. He was glad to see that the fledgling hadn’t gone rogue in his first few days alone but had found a clearly willing source instead. 

“I know I’m probably the last person you wanted to see. If I knew you were here, I wouldn’t have come tonight,” Geonhak rambled. He felt so guilty. 

“I just...can’t believe you’re here,” Youngjo said slowly, “it hurt a lot when you left. I’ve almost been missing you.”

Geonhak’s eyes widened. “You _ missed _me?” he asked, shocked. That was the last thing he was expecting to hear.

“You were the only good thing about that place,” Youngjo muttered. That and having a roof over his head. “Where are you staying now?”

Geonhak smiled sadly. “Most nights I’m here, unless I get caught somewhere else by the sun. Did you...did you finally leave for good?” he asked carefully. 

Youngjo nodded. “They abducted my son,” he said, “that was the last straw for me.”

Geonhak glanced down at the boy sleeping in Youngjo’s arms. “They abducted him? That’s horrible. There’s so much that could have gone wrong,” he said. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he’s out of my mother’s house for good, but I explicitly told them not to fuck around with my kid and they did anyway,” Youngjo said, “so I left.”

Geonhak slowly approached the camp and took a seat next to Keonhee. “They’ve never seen like the types to listen to directions,” he said, “what are you going to do now?” 

“This,” Youngjo said, “until I can drum up enough money for somewhere permanent.”

Geonhak dug into his pocket and grabbed the coin purse. “This is all I have left but take it,” he said, holding it out, “I’ll find somewhere to eat.” “You know you don’t have to pay me anymore,” Keonhee piped up.

“I can’t take this,” Youngjo said, “I don’t want to take any charity, and you need money too.”

“I don’t need the money,” Geonhak said pointedly, “I haven’t been home yet and there’s no way I’m going to.”

“I can’t take it,” Youngjo said again firmly. It didn’t feel right. 

Geonhak dropped the coin purse on the ground next to Youngjo. “Please. Just so you can get some food for Dongju,” he said gently.

“Thank you for worrying,” Youngjo said, “but we’ll be okay. When we get to the next town, I can get some money.”

Geonhak sighed. “As long as you’re sure,” he said quietly. Keonhee had finally settled down and tugged at Geonhak’s shirt. “Are you staying tonight?” he asked. “I don’t think so,” the vampire replied quietly. He still felt too guilty. 

Youngjo adjusted his hold on Dongju. “Thank you,” he said quietly. 

Geonhak nodded. He waited until it got a little darker before standing but he didn’t get far with Keonhee’s death grip on his shirt. He tried to pry the human’s fingers off of his shirt but he was met with a resounding whine. “Stay tonight,” Keonhee requested. Geonhak sighed and sat back down. He wasn’t going to get any sleep but at least he could keep watch. 

Youngjo brought his knees up, trapping Dongju against his stomach to keep him warm. Hopefully, he could ignore Geonhak until they left. 

Geonhak sat there reluctantly. When Keonhee finally fell asleep, he pried the man’s hand off of his shirt. Silently, he pulled himself to his feet and moved further away from the camp. He could keep watch without sitting next to Youngjo. He thought he had moved on from feeling guilty, but seeing Youngjo and his son made it all come crashing back. 

Youngjo didn’t sleep. When Geonhak moved, he tracked the shadows. “He seems to like you,” he said quietly. 

Geonhak stilled when he realized Youngjo was still awake. “I’m sorry for bothering you. Get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on everything,” he said, “but yeah, I owe him a lot.”

“I won’t sleep,” Youngjo said, shaking his head, “not until he’s safe.” 

“I’m going to stay awake. You’ll be safe while you’re here. You need sleep to keep him safe,” Geonhak said, “although it’s really not safe for you at all out here.”

“He’s my son,” Youngjo said, shaking his head, “I can’t just fall asleep.”

Geonhak turned around. “Youngjo, please, trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you. Get some rest. I know you need it,” he said gently yet forcefully.

“I won’t be able to,” Youngjo said, “this is the first time I’ve seen him in months. I can’t just close my eyes.”

Geonhak sighed sympathetically. He turned back around and looked up at the stars. “I’ll have to leave when it gets sunny but I know Keonhee will let you stay here during the day. You have to get some rest at some point,” he said. 

“I have to keep moving,” Youngjo said, “until we find somewhere safe to stay.”

“I know, and please don’t be upset with me, I know you’re upset with Seoho and Hwanwoong for abducting your son but you should consider going back. It was a roof over your head, food, and you’d both be safe. It’s not worth wandering the streets when you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s not safe out here for you,” Geonhak said carefully.

Youngjo scoffed. “As if they’d even let me,” he said, “not that I want to anyway. If this isn't safe, that’s even worse. It’s like sleeping in a bear cave.”

“I think they would let you if it came down to it,” Geonhak said gently. He let the conversation drop, not wanting to make anything worse. 

“Dongju’s safety comes before my comfort, every time,” Youngjo said, “as long as I can keep him fed and safe, that’s all I need.”

Geonhak hummed. “You’re a good dad. You just gotta make sure you take care of yourself too or you’re not gonna be able to protect him,” he said. 

“I’m doing my best,” Youngjo said, “but he comes first, always.”

Geonhak smiled softly. Even though it wasn’t the most ideal situation, he was glad Youngjo had Dongju back.

Youngjo felt like he blinked and the sun had suddenly appeared. He must have fallen asleep at some point in the middle of his and Geonhak’s conversation. 

Geonhak had disappeared into the woods when the sun started to come up. Some days he would stay under the overpass with Keonhee but he didn’t want to do that today. He stayed far enough away that he could just hear Keonhee if the man called for something. 

“So, how exactly did you meet Geonhak?” Youngjo asked Keonhee. They were working together on making breakfast while Dongju slept nearby. 

“A friend of his, tiny guy, doesn’t pull any punches, showed up here one night. He offered money if we fed his friend and I wasn’t gonna pass up the chance to earn some money for food so I agreed. Geonhak was in rough shape that night but they didn’t stay long. He came crawling back a few days ago even worse for wear and I convinced him to stay around so he didn’t end up like that again,” Keonhee explained, “he said he came from the same house you were at.”

Youngjo’s expression soured at that. “His _ friend _abducted me and forced me to feed them,” he said, “the only reason I willingly fed Geonhak was because he was basically forced into it too.”

Keonhee’s eyes widened. “Whoa, that’s horrible. I’m glad you got out of there,” he said, “do you know how he ended up like this? I don’t wanna upset him by asking. It seems like a pretty touchy subject.”

“The one that he was with, the short one, got all tweaked out after I tried to escape once and got too reckless when he was hunting. By the time he snapped out of it, Geonhak was almost dead, so he brought him back and made the other one turn him,” Youngjo explained, “I’m sure you can understand why I don’t want Dongju growing up there.”

Keonhee shuddered. “Yeah, I would never raise a kid around that. It’s not a good environment and who knows what they’d try to pull with him either,” he said, “I’m glad Geonhak isn’t like them.”

“He’s always had more conscience and more humanity than them,” Youngjo said, “one of them said something about having turned him just enough that he was able to keep his humanity.”

Keonhee smiled softly. “That’s one thing they did right,” he commented, “I’m glad you’re away from that though. If it was anyone other than Geonhak, I don’t think I would have agreed to keep helping him.”

“If there’s one of them that deserves the help, it’s him,” Youngjo agreed, “he’s one of a kind.”

“Yeah, he is,” Keonhee agreed, “he still apologizes every time and almost always spends the night to make sure I’m okay. He’s having a rough time with this all and I don’t know how to help. He sobbed for hours the night he showed back up and nothing I did could calm him down.”

“I’m not surprised,” Youngjo said, “I don’t think he was ever really convinced that I didn’t mind feeding him.”

“I doubt it. He doesn’t believe me about that either,” Keonhee said, “he keeps talking about leaving and going somewhere away from people but I know that won’t end well. Maybe you can convince him to stay. I’ve done okay so far but he keeps coming up with new excuses and I’m running out of ways to dodge them.”

“He won’t listen to me,” Youngjo said, “neither of us is safe out here, but neither of us is willing to go back either.”

Keonhee frowned. “If you find somewhere safe, will you take him with you? I know it’s a lot but I’d rather him be somewhere safe with someone he trusts,” he requested. 

“I can try, but I doubt I could ever convince him to feed off of me again,” Youngjo said, “and unless he has a dedicated permanent source, he won’t ever be safe.”

Keonhee frowned. “I would do it but he would never agree. He keeps saying he’s not staying and that he’s only doing this until he can figure something out. He needs someone he trusts but I don’t know if he’ll ever find that,” he said sadly, “I just want what’s best for him.”

Youngjo sighed. It was all so complicated. He needed to talk to Geonhak again before he and Dongju kept moving. 

“I don’t even know if he’ll come back tonight,” Keonhee said, “he was so hesitant to talk to you yesterday. But he seemed pretty keen to stay and make sure nothing happened to you so he might.”

“I hope he does,” Youngjo said, “I want to talk to him again before Dongju and I move on.”

“He’s gonna be upset to see you go,” Keonhee said, “from the sound of it, you guys went through a rough time together.”

Youngjo sighed. “We did,” he said, “and I’m tired of all these vampires thinking they know what’s best for me. I haven’t lived my own life in weeks.”

“Good on you for getting out of there. I’ve never really believed in all these fairytales but these vampires sound just as horrible as I’ve always heard,” Keonhee said. 

“It isn’t the vampirism that makes them bad,” Youngjo said, “I fully believe they’re just terrible people.”

Keonhee shook his head. “I’m glad that little one never came back. I don’t think we would have gotten along very well,” he said. 

“He’s the nicer of the two, if you can believe it,” Youngjo said, “he was kind of forced into it too, as far as I know.”

“The little one’s nicer?” Keonhee asked incredulously. He shivered. “I do _ not _want to meet his friend then.”

“The other one’s been around for centuries,” Youngjo said, “he barely has any awareness of human life anymore. The only reason the short one even got turned is because the other one couldn’t handle himself when feeding, not even for his own boyfriend.”

“Centuries? Shit, that’s crazy,” Keonhee said quietly, “I can’t believe the little one stayed with him even after that. And the fact that you all got dragged into this is just...sad.”

“He’d been feeding off of him for over a century, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was sapping his humanity too,” Youngjo said, “they’re both very survivalist.”

“They’ve been together for over a century?” Keonhee asked rhetorically, “well I guess their survivalist tendencies are paying off if they’ve made it this long.” 

“Acting as a feeder gives you temporary immortality,” Youngjo explained, “you basically stop aging for a few days and it can build up when you’re fed from constantly.”

Keonhee’s eyes widened. “Temporary immortality?” he asked in a small voice, “shit, that’s not a bad deal for feeding a vamp.”

“I mean, they can still kill you if they drain you, but yeah,” Youngjo said, “I think it’s the venom on their saliva or something.”

Keonhee hummed quietly. “Geonhak didn’t say anything about immortality,” he said, “he hasn’t really told me anything about this to be honest.”

“He probably feels guilty,” Youngjo said, “if starving himself would kill him, he would do it.”

Keonhee frowned. “I wish he would let someone help him,” he said quietly, “he’s so scared of himself but he’s one of the least dangerous people I’ve ever met.”

“Try telling him that,” Youngjo said with a snort, “he’ll never believe you.”

“I know,” Keonhee said sadly, “I just feel so bad for him. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go but never anyone this bad. I wish there was something we could do, ya know?”

“The only thing I can think of is to get him back to the mansion and feeding from a permanent willing source,” Youngjo said, “that’s the best solution there is for him.”

Keonhee nodded. “Hopefully he’ll come tonight and we can talk to him then. He hasn’t really listened to me so far,” he said. If he was being honest, he was more than happy to be Geonhak’s permanent source but he wasn’t all that keen on going to the mansion with him. 

“I’ll stay another night,” Youngjo said, “just to talk to him.”

“Thank you,” Keonhee said gratefully, “he really needs to hear this from you. I just hope he listens.”

“I doubt he will but we can at least try,” Youngjo said. He really just wanted the best for Geonhak. 

Keonhee nodded. They spent the rest of the day passing the time as best as they could. Keonhee even got Dongju to smile a little bit and he considered that a win in his book. When it started getting dark again, there was no sign of Geonhak and Keonhee was worried he wouldn’t show up.

Youngjo wasn’t surprised that Dongju was still shy, given what he had just been through. He tried to get the boy at least play with Keonhee, but he was simply too clingy. When night fell, the boy wouldn't let go at all. 

Keonhee could tell the boy was scared and he didn’t blame him in the slightest. He was so distracted that he jumped out of his skin when he heard a noise in the woods. He glanced up just in time to see Geonhak step out. The vampire looked surprised to see Youngjo still sitting there.

Youngjo wrapped Dongju in the sheet to keep him warm and beckoned Geonhak over to him and Keonhee. 

“I didn’t expect to see you two nights in a row,” Geonhak admitted. He walked over to the trio slowly, staying a good distance away.

“I wanted to stay so I could talk to you again,” Youngjo said, “Keonhee has something to say.”

Geonhak looked at Keonhee wide eyed. “I-I don’t need to eat tonight and I don’t have to come back if it’s too much,” he rambled but he was cut off. “It’s nothing like that,” Keonhee assured. He glanced at Youngjo. “We just want to help you and we think going back to the mansion might be a good idea.” Geonhak took a step back. “No...no, I can’t be trapped there for the rest of my life. I need to get farther away, not go back,” he said. 

“We aren’t saying permanently,” Youngjo said, “but until you can come to terms with the realities of your existence, you need to be somewhere where you’re going to be forced to eat regularly. Neither of us wants to see you go rogue.”

Geonhak took another step back. “I’m not gonna go rogue. And I’m eating enough so it doesn’t matter. I’m not going back there. I’m not living with them again,” he said. Keonhee sighed sadly and turned his head down. 

“Geonhak, you need a permanent source and a safe place to be when you can’t handle feeding,” Youngjo said, “you know I would never encourage it unless I thought it was the best option. Besides, I’m sure they’ve already got someone there. If not, they know how to find one.”

“I am safe! And I can’t do that to someone. I can’t ruin the rest of someone’s life like that. If they do have someone new, it’s probably another hostage,” Geonhak said. He wrapped his arms around himself and took another small step back.

“And what about when you freak out again and refuse to come find Keonhee?” Youngjo asked, “what happens then if you wait too long?”

“I’ll be fine,” Geonhak bit out, “I’ve made it so far and I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I don’t even know why you’re so concerned. You never have to see me again.” “Because we don’t want to see you live like this,” Keonhee said suddenly. He chewed on his lip and kept his eyes glued to the ground. “We don’t want to see you suffer when we can help you.”

“You were willing to put your neck on the line to help me and I’m going to do the same for you,” Youngjo said, making a sudden, firm decision. “If you go back, I will too.”

“No way. You can’t go back there, especially with Dongju. You said it yourself it’s not safe for him there and it’s not safe for you either,” Geonhak said. 

“It’s safer there than out here,” Youngjo said, throwing Geonhak’s own words from the night before back at him, “there’s a roof over our heads and no lack of food.”

Geonhak’s knees buckled and he sunk to the ground. “I can’t go back. You know I can’t go back,” he whispered, “I don’t want to be like them. I don’t want to give in. I want to ignore this as much as possible. Going back is going to make everything so much worse.”

“No, Geonhak, _ ignoring it _ is going to make it worse,” Youngjo said, “you won’t get weaker, you won’t die, you’ll just go completely feral and actually hurt people. You have two people right here that are completely able and willing to help you.”

Geonhak sniffed. “I don’t want to drag anyone into my mess,” he said in a small voice. “You can’t do this alone,” Keonhee said gently, “please stop fighting us. We don’t want you to hurt anymore.” He reached a hand out towards the vampire.

“Let us help you,” Youngjo said, “that’s all we’re trying to do.”

Geonhak sat there for a minute before slowly crawling towards the men. He reached out for Keonhee and all but collapsed into his arms with a soft sob. “I’m so scared of hurting either of you,” he mumbled.

“You think we wouldn’t tell you if that happened?” Youngjo asked, “you’ve never been anything but gentle with me.”

Geonhak hid his face in Keonhee’s neck, desperately clinging onto him. “I just hate hurting people,” he said unnecessarily. Keonhee rubbed the vampire’s back soothingly. “You aren’t going to hurt any more people, I promise,” he said quietly. 

“C’mon, we should get moving now so we can make it as far as possible before the sun comes up,” Youngjo said, “it took me the entire day to get here and the nights are shorter right now.”

Geonhak looked up at Youngjo with big eyes. “You want to leave tonight? We...we can’t leave tonight. It’s so soon,” he said nervously.

“I don’t want you to wait any longer,” he said, “if we let you wait, you’ll disappear on us.”

Geonhak swallowed thickly. Youngjo wasn’t wrong. “Come on, let’s go,” Keonhee said gently. He stood up and helped the vampire to his feet as well. 

Youngjo took a moment to secure Dongju to his front before getting up as well. “You’re coming with us, Keonhee, yes?” he asked. 

Keonhee chewed on his lip. “I, uh, can help make sure you get there safe but I don’t know if I’ll stay,” he said. He didn’t want to tell Geonhak he was afraid of the other vampires. “It’s okay. You don’t have to do that,” Geonhak said. He tried to stand up on his own and nearly toppled over.

Youngjo knew that Keonhee was probably worried about Hwanwoong and Seoho and he had to be honest. “If you go all the way there, they won’t let you leave,” he said, “but I can make sure they never come near you.”

“Won’t let me leave?” Keonhee asked quietly. He glanced back at the overpass and then at Geonhak, who could barely keep himself upright. He had a lot of memories here but if he could live in a house and make sure Geonhak was safe, he would take it. “That’s okay,” he said finally, “we’ll figure it all out when we get there.”

Youngjo nodded. He knew Keonhee understood the consequences of this. Clearly, the man liked Geonhak quite a bit. “Let’s get moving then,” he said, wrapping one hand around Geonhak’s arm to keep him steady.

Geonhak eventually pulled himself together enough to support himself. The dread kept building in his stomach the closer they got to the mansion. He knew at some point Hwanwoong and Seoho would hear them coming and he didn’t know what they would do.

Hwanwoong and Seoho were taking a lazy night and were still naked in bed when Hwanwoong heard it. Footsteps in the woods. Not one set of them either, but at least three, all headed toward the mansion. “Seoho,” he hissed, “intruders.”

Seoho’s head snapped up. “How could anyone find us?” he asked. He was out of bed and dressed in a moment. “Stay here. I don’t know what they have with them,” he said. 

Youngjo had passed Dongju off to Keonhee, who was walking in the middle of him and Geonhak. The sky was starting to lighten and they really needed to reach the mansion quickly. 

Geonhak started to get even more antsy when the sun started to rise. “I don’t want to get caught again,” he said nervously, “it hurts to get burned.” Meanwhile Seoho had let himself out the backdoor and hid himself in one of the trees near his house. He waited to pounce on whoever dared to come near his house.

“If we have to camp out, we will,” Youngjo said, “the sheet should hopefully give you some protection too. Dongju will be awake soon so we can let him down and cover you up.”

Geonhak nodded uncertainly. As the sun continued to rise, he pressed closer and closer to Keonhee. When he saw a beam of light cut through the trees, he stopped in his tracks. “I-I can’t. I have to find somewhere to hide,” he said. 

“We’ll cover you,” Youngjo said, “the closer we can get to the house, the better.”

“I don’t want to get burned,” Geonhak whimpered pitifully. “You won’t. We’ll make sure of it,” Keonhee promised. He settled Dongju more comfortably on his hip while he waited for Youngjo to help make sure Geonhak was covered.

Youngjo covered Geonhak completely and put him in front so he could guide him through the woods. A clearer path was starting to form, which was how he knew they were getting close. He was sure that Seoho and Hwanwoong could hear them by now. 

Seoho crouched down further when he heard the footsteps start to get closer. There wasn’t much he could do with the sun out but he was prepared to defend Hwanwoong and himself no matter the cost.

“We’re almost there, Geonhak,” Youngjo said. He had no idea how he was going to sneak them into the mansion without catching too much attention.

Seoho kept his eyes glued on the woods. As they got closer, he smelled the three humans but only one of them was unfamiliar. It suddenly dawned on him who was walking through their woods. “It’s Ravn and he’s got the kid,” he told Hwanwoong. 

“Why the hell is he back?” Hwanwoong asked incredulously, “last I knew, he never wanted to see this place again.”

“Who knows but he has another human with him. This should be interesting. I’m intrigued to hear his reason for coming back but I’m sure he’s going to regret it,” Seoho said. 

Youngjo could see the mansion now as they stepped out of the woods onto the edge of the lawn. “One more minute then we’ll be inside,” he said. Hwanwoong, watching from an upstairs window, narrowed his eyes. “Is that...Geonhak?”

Seoho growled quietly when he saw the fledgling, almost completely covered, walking with the humans. “It is. Doesn’t look like he’s been adjusting to life on his own very well,” he said. He waited until the group was almost to his tree before jumping down, careful to stay in the shadows. “What exactly do you think you’re doing crawling back here?” he asked, arms crossed. 

“Jesus fucking shit,” Youngjo cursed, clutching his chest. Seoho had just popped out of nowhere. “Geonhak isn’t safe on his own. We’ll stay out of your way, we just needed somewhere to bring him that we knew was safe.”

Seoho held back a laugh. “You thought here was the safest place?” he asked with raised eyebrows, “and what exactly do you want me to do? Welcome you back with open arms? You’ve brought another human and a fledgling that wants no part of me. Did you think _ any _of this through?”

“A fledgling that your boyfriend is responsible for and that’s about two more days away from going on a rampage and exposing all of you,” Youngjo said, “can we please talk this out inside before you both burn up?”

Seoho narrowed his eyes. “I don’t want you staying here. I’m sorry you’ve walked all this way but you made your decision to leave and it’s a little late to take it back,” he said. He followed the tree line back to the covered porch. 

“And when someone asks where this vicious, feral vampire came from?” Youngjo said, following Seoho, “and I can step right up with his name,” he pointed to the window he was sure Hwanwoong was behind, “and this address? How well is that going to work for you?”

“Do you consider me some helpless creature? Do you forget how old I am? The experience I have? _ I’ll _be fine but he won’t,” Seoho said. He turned his attention to the vampire with them. “What do you want Geonhak? Do you want to stay here? Do you really?” he asked, eyes boring into the fledgling’s. Geonhak whimpered. “I just don’t want to hurt anyone,” he replied quietly. Seoho rolled his eyes. 

“And yet, whole armies of your kind were wiped out like nothing,” Youngjo said, “do you think you’re immune? The whole reason this mess got started was because you were _ scared _of the humans finding you. You really shouldn’t have let me leave because I can bring them straight to your front door.”

“You think that was all the humans’ doing?” Seoho asked angrily. He didn’t like talking about his past so he let the subject drop. “You’re really going to threaten me when you just showed up at my doorstep asking for help? I could kill the fledgling and all of our problems would be solved even easier. But you don’t want that do you?” he said. Geonhak picked his head up just as Keonhee stepped in front of him. 

Hwanwoong had had enough of the arguing. “All of you, inside, now,” he barked, stepping onto the enclosed porch, “we’re going to discuss this like adults.”

Seoho glared at Hwanwoong. He had made it clear he wanted none of them in his home and his boyfriend had gone against that. Silently, he stalked into the house and waited in the front room with crossed arms for everyone to join him.

Youngjo pulled the sheet off of Geonhak once they were safely inside and turned his attention to Dongju for a moment. The boy seemed scared and upset, so hopefully they could hash this out quickly. 

If Seoho wasn’t so angry, he would have felt bad for the child who was so clearly terrified. Keonhee stood tall, trying to be brave for Geonhak, but he was terrified out of his mind.

“You’re back. Why?” Hwanwoong demanded. “Geonhak’s one more missed feeding away from going feral and actually killing someone,” Youngjo said again, “until he can come to terms with what he is now, he needs to stay somewhere secure. I am willing to act as your source in compensation.”

Seoho scoffed. “I don’t want to feed from you. If the fledgling truly wants to stay, and isn’t being dragged here against his will, then we’ll keep an eye on him. You, however, don’t have a place here anymore and this other human should have never been brought here,” he said. 

“Keonhee is the only person Geonhak won’t refuse to drink from when he isn’t refusing to drink in general,” Youngjo said, quickly losing his patience, “as for me, it is _ your fault _that I have no money, no home, no job, no way to care for my son, all because you decided I was too tasty for you to pass up. All this bullshit about not being able to give up such a pure resource and now you’re going to be an ass about it? You’ve had centuries to grow up, Seoho. Act your age.”

Seoho took a moment before responding. “You had a roof over your head, plenty to eat, and your son and you were the one that walked away from this. I have no sympathy. If Geonhak will only drink from this source, they can both stay downstairs, but I’m not responsible for the human. There’s nothing I can do to force him to feed anyway,” he said. 

“You abducted my child! You chained me to a bed! You went out of your way to starve yourself so every feeding was as violent and painful as it could possibly be!” Youngjo exploded, “you took your ingrained hatred of humans out on me for no reason other than _ I smelled good _ . I don’t care if you have sympathy or not, but you should at least have _ remorse _.”

“Oh, Ravn, you know better than that,” Seoho said with a shake of his head, “I think we have everything settled then. Geonhak and his human will stay downstairs until the fledgling can actually be on his own and you can resume your hunt for a place to stay or whatever you were looking for.” Geonhak turned his head down. “I don’t want you to stay here,” he whispered to Keonhee, “you won’t be happy here and I won’t be able to keep you safe.”

“Seoho,” Hwanwoong said, “can I talk to you in the other room?” He walked out without waiting for an answer, knowing his boyfriend would follow. 

Seoho sighed and followed his boyfriend. “Hwanwoong, I’m not changing my mind. If you want to keep him here, you better have the perfect reason,” he said, tone laced with annoyance.

“He’s right,” Hwanwoong said simply, “that’s my reason. We did this to him and we need to take responsibility for it. Plus, we’ve been searching and we haven’t found anyone and I know it’s been ages since you fed. He’s offering to be a permanent source and we can’t really afford to say no.”

“Need I say it again that we offered him to stay, tried to make it better, and he still left? I don’t feel guilty and I’m not sorry for what happened. And I’m not worried about a source for me. I can hunt. If you want him as your personal source, I can’t say no, but I do not like the idea of him living in our house again,” Seoho said. 

“I don’t even know who you are anymore,” Hwanwoong said quietly, “he’s staying, because he needs somewhere to stay. End of discussion.” He went back into the other room to relay the message to Ravn. 

“Maybe I’m the one that should leave then,” Seoho said airily. He disappeared deep into the mansion where he wouldn’t hear anything. Hwanwoong could take care of everything since he was the one that agreed to it.

“I’m sorry about Seoho,” Hwanwoong said, “he’s a bitter asshole with no human emotions left.” He showed everyone upstairs, where they could have their pick of rooms, before cornering Ravn. 

Geonhak walked into the room this whole mess started in. He laid down on the bed and curled up in a ball. “I think I need to be alone for a little while,” he whispered. Keonhee stopped. “Oh, okay,” he mumbled. He turned around and went to find a different room to stay in.

“Are you really serious about acting as a source?” Hwanwoong asked. “If you need me to,” Youngjo said, “just not in front of Dongju, please.” “Of course not,” Hwanwoong agreed.

Geonhak was too wrapped up in his own head to even hear Hwanwoong and Youngjo’s conversation. The more he thought about it, the more he realized coming here was a horrible idea. He would ideally love to sneak out and disappear again, but he knew he’d never get past Hwanwoong.

“I really am sorry for how we treated you before,” Hwanwoong said, “a lot of it was my doing and I feel horrible about it.” “Water under the bridge,” Youngjo said, “don’t worry about it.”

Geonhak really didn’t know what to think. He was starting to get hungry again and he hoped Keonhee was smart enough to lock his door. Instead of getting up to feed, he let himself doze off instead.

“You get settled, I’ll be back in a few hours probably,” Hwanwoong said. Youngjo thanked him again and set about making sure Dongju was comfortable. It was time for a nap. 

Geonhak, unsurprisingly, couldn’t sleep for more than a few hours. The hunger was slowly starting to get more intense and he knew the feeling all too well. Dragging himself out of bed, he locked his door and went to lay back down. He curled himself into as tight of a ball as he could and did his best to ignore Keonhee, Youngjo, and Dongju’s scents coming from down the hall.

When Youngjo woke up, it was mid afternoon and he decided to go check in with Keonhee. He left Dongju in bed, door locked, and walked across the hall to find the other human. 

Keonhee sat bolt upright when he heard someone approaching his room but it was just Youngjo. He relaxed considerably and shifted over on the bed so the older man could sit down. “I don’t know if coming here was a good idea,” he said quietly.

“It was, trust me,” Youngjo said, “Seoho will come around at some point. But I really came to see if you had checked in on Geonhak at all. He wasn’t doing too hot this morning.”

Keonhee shook his head sadly. “He said he wanted to be alone since we came up here and I haven’t heard anything since,” he said.

“Let me get back in my room and then you go check on him,” Youngjo said, “it’s gonna probably be messy and painful, but just yell for Hwanwoong if he goes too far.”

Keonhee nodded. When Youngjo left, he got out of bed and went down the hallway. “Geonhak, it’s me. Can I come in?” he asked, knocking softly on the door. He heard a pained groan through the door and knew the fledgling wasn’t doing good at all. He grabbed the door handle and twisted it, only to find it locked. “Geonhak? Geonhak, please open the door. I’m the only one around. Please let me in. You need to feed,” he begged. 

Hwanwoong could hear Keonhee begging Geonhak to open the door and decided he needed to help. Rummaging around in his drawer, he found the key for Geonhak’s door and brought it out to the human, holding a finger to his lips before going back to bed. 

Keonhee took the key and fumbled with it until the door swung open. He rushed into the room and right over to Geonhak. “Get out of here. You have to get out of here!” Geonhak said desperately. “No, we agreed to help you and that’s what I’m going to do. Now come on, you need to feed,” Keonhee said. He rounded the bed and knew the fledgling was moments from cracking when he saw the desperate look in his eyes. Suddenly, the fledgling leapt out of bed and sunk his teeth into Keonhee’s neck. The human yelped and dropped the key.

Youngjo heard a thud from down the hall and winced in sympathy. He felt bad that Keonhee was going to take the beating in all of this, but he wouldn’t let Geonhak get this bad again. He’d force him to feed if he needed to. 

Keonhee waited to see if Geonhak would move away on his own. When he didn’t, Keonhee weakly raised a hand to his hair and pulled gently. “Hey, that’s enough,” he said. Usually that was enough to snap Geonhak out of it, but not tonight. Keonhee’s vision began to swim and he tried to push the fledgling off again. “Geonhak, take it easy,” he mumbled.

Hwanwoong all but burst into the room when he heard Keonhee start to try and push Geonhak away. “C’mon, Geonhak,” he said, pulling the fledgling off and forcing Keonhee to sit down. “You still hungry? I’ll grab Ravn.”

Geonhak pulled against Hwanwoong but stopped when he saw Keonhee sitting on the floor, struggling to keep his eyes open. “No, no, I told him not to come in here,” he said quietly. He pulled himself out of the vampire’s grasp and sat down next to Keonhee. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he whispered. 

“He’ll be okay,” Hwanwoong said, “remember, we’ve done this before. He’s just a little underfed himself.”

“I can’t do this to him,” Geonhak whispered, “I can’t keep hurting him like this. And I know, I know feeding regularly would fix that but…” He trailed off. He knew it would be better for all of them so he wasn’t sure why he was so resistant.

“You won’t,” Hwanwoong said, “if you feed small amounts regularly instead of waiting until you can’t handle it anymore, this won’t happen, and we’ll make sure you do that.”

Geonhak sighed. He stood up and carefully moved Keonhee to the bed. “I just want to be able to go longer than a day without turning into a bloodthirsty monster,” he whispered.

“You aren’t a bloodthirsty monster when you feed regularly,” Hwanwoong said, “that’s why you need to stop waiting. You’re still young and you can’t go that long between feedings. Hell, neither can I. The only reason you see Seoho not eating for days on end is because he’s like six hundred years old and has been training himself to do that, but it takes time. Keonhee here is willing to help you, and Ravn too. You just need to let them.”

Geonhak glanced down at Keonhee, who had fallen asleep in the middle of the bed. “I don’t want to wait six hundred years to be able to go a few days without eating,” he said quietly, “I need help, I know I do, but I want to be able to go longer between feedings.”

“And we can work on it, but right now, you just need to feed consistently for a bit so that this starvation isn’t your body’s regular,” Hwanwoong said, “Keonhee will be fine, I promise.”

Geonhak nodded. “I don’t know why he’s still here,” he admitted, “I’ve done this to him almost every time and he’s still so patient. I just don’t get it.”

“I think he likes you,” Hwanwoong said with a small smile, “I mean, he came with you all the way from god only knows where to help you out. You must mean a lot to him.”

Geonhak furrowed his eyebrows. “But I haven't even known him for that long. How can I mean something to him when all I’ve done is hurt him?” he asked miserably.

“Look, I can’t tell you how human emotions work,” Hwanwoong said, “this is the longest I’ve been around anyone but Seoho in over a hundred years. Why don’t you just ask him?”

“I’ll talk to him when he wakes up,” Geonhak said, “is there any water or food I can give him?” He was starting to get nervous; Keonhee would usually wake back up by now.

“I’ll go get some stuff from the kitchen for him,” Hwanwoong said, “you keep an eye on him, okay? He should wake up soon.”

Geonhak sat on the edge of the bed, keeping an intent eye on Keonhee. A few minutes later the man groaned quietly and his eyes fluttered open. “I’m so sorry,” Geonhak whispered. Keonhee smiled softly and let his eyes close again. “You always get so apologetic about everything. I keep telling you, it’s okay. You’ll figure this thing out eventually,” he said. Geonhak hung his head. “Hwanwoong went to get you some food and water,” he said. Keonhee simply hummed in response.

Hwanwoong returned upstairs with a steaming bowl of oatmeal and some water. “We don’t have anything better at the moment, but I’ll go get some tonight,” he said apologetically. 

Keonhee cracked his eyes open when Hwanwoong came into the room. “This is perfect. I’ve had way worse,” he said. He pushed himself to sit up but didn’t get very far before Geonhak was helping him. “I’m really okay,” he assured the fledgling. 

“He knows his limits much better than you do,” Hwanwoong said, patting Geonhak on the shoulder, “just trust him.”

Geonhak nodded. “I will,” he promised. He looked over at Keonhee. The man was starting to eat his oatmeal and the color was slowly beginning to return to his face. 

“I’m gonna go feed before the baby wakes up,” Hwanwoong said, “call me if you need anything. I would refrain from wandering until Seoho’s in a better mood.”

“I’m not going to be leaving this room much,” Geonhak said. When Hwanwoong left, he turned his attention back to Keonhee. “When you’re feeling better, I can help bring you back to your room. Or you can stay here and I’ll go in the other room,” he said. Keonhee frowned. “I don’t see why we can’t both stay here. I don’t want you to lock me out again,” the man said. 

Youngjo let himself out into the hallway when Hwanwoong knocked. Dongju was still out cold in bed, so they went into the vampire’s room. “Is it alright if I bite your neck or would you prefer your wrist?” Hwanwoong asked. Youngjo considered it for a minute. “I’m sure Seoho would much prefer you use my wrist,” he said finally, thinking of how close they had to be for Hwanwoong to feed from his neck, “it’s probably easier for you too, height-wise.”

Geonhak frowned. “I’m not leaving you alone again,” Keonhee said firmly. He set the bowl on the nightstand and grabbed the glass of water. “Come lay down. I know you need the rest,” he said. Geonhak didn’t have the energy to argue so he obediently climbed into bed and curled up into a ball.

Youngjo watched as Hwanwoong pulled his arm up to his mouth and bit down. The vampire was surprisingly gentle and it was over before he even knew it. “That’s all you need?” Youngjo asked cautiously. 

Keonhee reached out to run his hand through Geonhak’s hair but pulled it back when the vampire flinched away from him. He waited a minute before trying again. Geonhak jumped but he didn’t move away this time.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Hwanwoong said, “that baby needs you in full working order so I don’t need to overeat.”

Geonhak tried to stay awake but he was exhausted and Keonhee’s fingers in his hair were helping him relax. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep, still curled up into a ball.

Youngjo sighed and headed back to Dongju. The boy woke up a little bit later and was whining for food, so he had to call the vampire again.

Keonhee put the glass down when it was empty. He continued to play with Geonhak’s hair, grateful that the vampire was finally getting some rest.

“Papa, play,” Dongju whined. “I know, baby, but we have to stay in here,” Youngjo said, “we can play pretend.”

Keonhee waited another few minutes before getting up to find a bathroom. He was still a little shaky but he was more worried about accidentally running into one of the other vampires.

Hwanwoong decided he had avoided Seoho enough. Even though he had been told not to go into the depths of the mansion, he knew that was where Seoho was, so he went exploring. 

Seoho looked up when he heard the knob of his door turn. Everyone knew that this area of the house was off limits and he was furious that someone dared to come down here. He stood up and stalked over to the door but froze when Hwanwoong stepped into the room. “You know better than to be down here,” he said flatly. 

“You can’t avoid me forever,” Hwanwoong said, “we need to talk about this. What’s going on with you?”

“That human thinks he can crawl back here and demand we help him after the stunts he pulled and you _ let _him,” Seoho growled, “you’ve deliberately gone against everything I’ve said since they got here and I refuse to live like this.”

“You never used to be like this,” Hwanwoong said quietly, “you used to have so much sympathy for everyone and you would never hurt anyone. What happened to you?”

“I’m not hurting anyone. You seem to be forgetting this isn’t an inn, Hwanwoong. You want to keep an eye on the fledgling? Fine. But humans should not be here. We tried to have a source here and that didn’t work out,” Seoho said, “everything is so much better when it’s just the two of us.”

“For you, maybe,” Hwanwoong grumbled, “did you ever think that maybe I’m not happy? That I’m lonely? I seriously fucked up my opportunity to make a friend and have someone to talk to other than myself and the universe has given me another chance. I’m not just going to boot it out the door. And how can you say it wouldn’t hurt anyone when he’s got a child that will certainly suffer if we refuse to help?”

“You never complained about being lonely in all the years we were together until now,” Seoho said, “and he walked out of here first. He chose to go out on the streets and then come crawling back when it didn’t work.”

“What was I supposed to say? You were always more than enough, but you’ve been so different and closed off since you turned me,” Hwanwoong said, “it’s like you lost all respect for me and my intelligence as soon as you turned me. I’m not a child and you _ don’t _own me.”

“I didn’t lose all respect for you. I just have to take care of you a little different now,” Seoho said, “and you’re right. I don’t own you. So if you want them all to stay, there’s really nothing I can do.”

“You act like this is still just your home and that I’m just a guest here,” Hwanwoong said, letting out frustrations he’d held in for decades, “newsflash, asshole, you don’t have to take care of me _ at all _. I am more than capable of taking care of myself, with or without you, so you’d better start acting like you give half a fuck about me or it’ll be without.”

Seoho raised his hands in surrender. “Fine, I’ll back off,” he promised, “I love you a lot, you know this. But after everything we’ve been through together, you have to know why I don’t like this.”

“I don’t understand why them being here means I have to lose you,” Hwanwoong said, “you can’t just put your bitterness aside so I can be happy? I left my entire life behind for you, Seoho, I sacrificed so much, but this is too far for you?”

“You’re not losing me,” Seoho said, “and don’t try to guilt trip me when you chose to stay. I know you sacrificed a lot by staying but we both know your life before coming here wasn’t great. But I’m not gonna play games with whose sob story is worse. I’ll come around and I’ll put them being here aside for you but I don’t want anything to do with them. Unless the fledgling gets out of control, he’s your responsibility.”

“I am losing you, but what I want has never really mattered to you anyway, has it?” Hwanwoong asked rhetorically. He turned around without waiting for an answer and headed back upstairs.

Seoho called for Hwanwoong but his boyfriend didn’t respond. He slammed the door to his room closed, ignoring the loud crack when the wood split. They should have never brought Ravn here to begin with. If he hadn’t suggested getting a permanent source, they wouldn’t be in this position. 

Hwanwoong stomped upstairs and threw himself into one of the empty bedrooms. He slammed the door and fell against it with a sob. He _ hated _Seoho. 

It didn’t take long for Seoho to decide he couldn’t be in the house anymore. He stalked upstairs and out the front door. He didn’t bother to slam this one though, Hwanwoong would hear him leaving just fine. Upstairs, Geonhak jumped away when he heard a door slam, followed by a soft sob. “What happened?” he asked groggily. Keonhee shook his head. “I-I’m not sure but it doesn’t sound good,” he replied. 

Youngjo heard the door across the hall slam and soft sobbing through the wall. He knew it had to be Hwanwoong, since the door down the hall hadn’t opened. With a sigh, he gathered up Dongju and went across the hall.

“Wait here,” Keonhee said, climbing out of bed. “Be careful,” Geonhak said, rolling himself over so he could face the door. “I’m not going far,” Keonhee said. He opened the door and peeked his head into the hallway.

Youngjo looked up when he heard the door down the hall open. “We’ve got him,” he said with a small smile, opening the door slowly. He pushed Dongju ahead of him, urging him to go over and hug Hwanwoong. 

Keonhee nodded and ducked back into the room. “It’s Hwanwoong,” he explained to Geonhak, “Youngjo’s gonna take care of him though.” He climbed back into bed and resumed playing with the fledgling’s hair. Meanwhile, Seoho stalked through the woods, looking to get as far away from the house as possible. While he was out here, he decided he might as well go hunting. Hopefully that would take his mind off everything.

Youngjo closed the door softly and took a seat on the floor across from Hwanwoong. Dongju was shy as he approached the vampire and tapped his hair gently. “Hug?” he asked cutely and Hwanwoong couldn’t help but nod. 

Seoho climbed a tree and positioned himself so he could see the mountain trail below him but still be hidden. He watched the hikers that passed by, waiting for one he liked. 

Youngjo stayed quiet and just watched as the vampire hugged his son carefully until his tears started to slow. “I assume your conversation with Seoho didn’t go very well?” he asked. Hwanwoong laughed sardonically. “You could say that,” he mumbled. 

Seoho waited until he got a little bit darker before climbing down the tree. He had seen a jogger coming up the path and waited for them to pass before grabbing them and pulling them into the foliage. He was sure to cover their eyes and drink quickly, disappearing before they could even register what happened. He didn’t want to go back to the house yet, so he meandered through the woods. He used to know these woods like the back of his hand but he hadn’t been exploring in a very long time. There was no way he would get lost but the forest was not as familiar as it used to be. 

“I love him so much,” Hwanwoong continued, “but he can be so difficult. He’s been weird ever since he turned me and I’m so tired of feeling like I’m being deliberately closed out and infantilized.”

Geonhak kept his back to Keonhee. “We’re making everything worse by being here,” he said quietly, “I...I don’t want to stay.” Keonhee sighed. “You have to. It’s not safe for you out there,” he said gently. “I don’t _ have _to do anything,” Geonhak countered. 

“I’m sure he’ll come around eventually,” Youngjo said, “and if he doesn’t, we’ll figure something else out. Coming back was the only way I could get Geonhak to come back; otherwise we’d be far out of your hair.”

Geonhak didn’t want to lay in bed anymore. “I’m gonna go for a walk,” he said, “alone.” Keonhee slowly leaned back against the headrest. “Be careful,” the man requested. Geonhak nodded and left the room. He wandered around the house, trying to see how much of it he remembered. 

“It just exposed wounds that have been there for decades,” Hwanwoong said, “it had been so long by the time he found me since he had had anyone to care about that I think he forgot how. I doubt that he actually even loves me.”

Geonhak’s mind started to wander and he walked around the house aimlessly. He jumped out of his skin when he rounded a corner and saw Seoho standing there. He scrambled back from the vampire and watched him fearfully.

Youngjo didn’t know what to say to that. How could he assure Hwanwoong that Seoho clearly loved him when he barely knew the two of them? “You should tell him how you feel,” he tried. “I have,” Hwanwoong said, shaking his head, “he just...doesn’t care.” Like this, face blotchy and tear stained, Youngjo could truly see Hwanwoong’s humanity. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…I was just walking around,” Geonhak said quickly. Seoho just waved him off. “As long as you don’t go downstairs, I don’t care where you go,” he said. With that, he disappeared back to his room, ignoring the broken door.

In a different situation, Youngjo would tell Hwanwoong to leave Seoho, to find someone more worth his time, but it was clear that the vampire didn’t want to do that. “I don’t know,” he admitted, “he doesn’t really seem to care if he loses you or not, does he?”

Geonhak opened his mouth to ask Seoho a question but the vampire was gone too quickly. With a soft sigh, he went to go sit outside. He sat on the porch and stared longingly at the woods. 

That caused Hwanwoong to bite his lip and sniffle pitifully. “He doesn’t,” he answered quietly, “but I don’t want to lose him.”

Geonhak couldn’t help but overhear Youngjo and Hwanwoong’s conversation. If they hadn’t come, the two vampires would be happy and they wouldn’t be caught in the middle of a war. He honestly wasn’t sure if leaving would make things better or worse. 

“I always thought I meant just as much to him as he does to me, but I guess I was just another blood bag,” Hwanwoong said. Dongju whimpered when he started to cry again and clung to him tighter. 

Seoho paced back and forth across his room, what Hwanwoong had said to him replaying over and over in his mind. How could his boyfriend talk so easily about living without him? They had been through so much together. Was the younger vampire really that willing to throw it all away? He didn’t want to believe that.

“I’m sorry,” Youngjo whispered. He slid over and wrapped an arm around Hwanwoong’s shoulder. It was clear to him that the vampire was hurting and that a lot of his frustrations had been misdirected onto him. 

Seoho didn’t want to lose Hwanwoong, he really didn’t. He had to think of a way to fix this and fast. Apologizing was probably the best place to start so he dragged himself out of his room once he thought of what to say. When he reached the main level, he could hear Ravn talking with Hwanwoong. 

Hwanwoong finally loosened his grip on Dongju and pulled away from both humans. “I’ll be okay,” he said with a tight smile, “thank you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Seoho caught sight of Geonhak sitting outside. “I know you want to but don’t leave yet. You’re gonna end up right back where you started and it’s a slippery slope. Trust me, getting used to everything now rather than in two centuries is going to be so much better for you,” he said.

“If you need anything, you know where I am,” Youngjo said, standing up with Dongju safe in his arms. “Thank you, Ravn, really,” Hwanwoong said. “Youngjo,” he corrected, “no more of this Ravn nonsense. I’ve always hated that name anyway.”

Seoho saw Geonhak nod out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t sure if Hwanwoong would even talk to him but he had to try. Slowly, he headed upstairs to the room his boyfriend was in.

Youngjo was just leaving the room, about to put Dongju down for a nap, when he caught Seoho coming up the stairs. He raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything, merely behind him gesturing with his head and disappearing into his room. 

Seoho was grateful that Youngjo didn’t say anything. He walked over to the door and knocked softly. “Hwanwoong, can I come in?” he asked. 

Hwanwoong had zoned out and hadn’t even noticed Seoho come upstairs. “Yeah,” he said softly, moving away from the door.

Seoho opened the door and felt his chest tighten when he saw how upset Hwanwoong looked. “I wanted to apologize,” he said, “I know it doesn’t fix anything but I want to apologize for my behavior. I’m sorry I haven’t been treating you like you deserve these past few months. I love you so much, Hwanwoong, and I don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” Hwanwoong said softly, “but I can’t keep doing this. It hurts when you treat me like I’m brainless and helpless. It feels like I became worthless to you as soon as I stopped providing you a service.”

“No, no, that’s not it at all. You’re not helpless, I just didn’t want to ever see you suffer like I did. I see now that I’ve been too overbearing. It’s not that I don’t trust you; I just can barely come to terms with the fact that I was so careless I had to turn you. I don’t want to see you suffer more because of me and I think I just made everything worse anyway,” Seoho said. 

“You act like I can’t fend for myself, and I know that I’m new to this, but I was fending for myself long before you came around,” Hwanwoong said, “this won’t work if you can’t trust me.”

“I do trust you, I promise,” Seoho said, “and I know you can take care of yourself, I’ve watched you. At the end of the day, I just really don’t want this to be a burden for you. I wanted life to be as normal as possible.”

“That was never going to be possible,” Hwanwoong said, “not when my entire lifestyle had to change. I miss the sun. I miss normal food. I miss being able to go out to the market and talk to people and not feel lonely and isolated all the time. And all of that was inevitable.”

Seoho turned his head down. “I’m sorry. But I’m glad you have some friends here now. You’re right. It’s not fair to kick them out when they clearly need a place to stay and the company will be good for you,” he said. 

“I’ll be honest, if it weren’t for Dongju, I probably wouldn’t have even considered it,” Hwanwoong said, “but it doesn’t feel right to let a little kid suffer just because we don’t get along with his dad. That isn’t his fault.”

Seoho sighed. “I agree,” he said after a moment, “and if Geonhak starts feeding regularly, it won’t be dangerous for the child to be here.”

“I am a little socially starved, but I wouldn’t never put that above you, Seoho,” Hwanwoong said, “not without good reason.”

“No, you deserve to be happy and if I’m not doing that then something needs to give. I thought I was making your life easier by helping as much as I could with the adjustment but in reality I was neglecting you. I’m sorry for hurting you and I hope we can figure something out that’s going to work better for both of us,” Seoho said. He glanced up and cautiously walked towards Hwanwoong. 

Hwanwoong looked up at Seoho, watching him move across the room. His head hurt now that he had stopped crying and he just wanted his boyfriend to hold him and tell him it would be alright. 

Seoho moved slowly, giving Hwanwoong plenty of time to push him away. When he didn’t,

Seoho knelt down next to his boyfriend and took both of his hands in his own. “I’ll get better, I promise. Everything’s going to work out and we’re going to get back to when we were both happy,” he said. 

Hwanwoong pulled one of his hands out of Seoho’s and used it to cup his cheek so his could kiss his boyfriend. “I love you,” he mumbled. 

“I love you too,” Seoho breathed. He sat down more comfortably and pulled Hwanwoong into his arms. “Nothing like this is going to happen again, I promise.”

“You need to apologize to Youngjo,” Hwanwoong said, “the stuff you guys said to each other was pretty cruel.”

Seoho frowned. “I’m not particularly keen on doing that,” he admitted, “I don’t need to have any sort of relationship with him and I’m not worried about getting an apology from him.”

“I don’t care,” Hwanwoong said bluntly, “I’m tired of all the fucking tension in this house. We can’t really fix anything with Geonhak right now, but we can at least start by leveling ground with Youngjo.”

“Fine, we’ll figure something out. But that can come later. I want to worry about you right now. I’ve missed you a lot and I don’t want to leave you alone,” Seoho said. 

Hwanwoong glanced up at the window. Dark had long since fallen, but he wasn’t feeling up to going anywhere. “Let’s just go to bed,” he said, “when we feel up to it, I’ll send Youngjo out with a grocery list.”

Seoho stood up and helped Hwanwoong to his feet with him. He wrapped an arm around his boyfriend’s waist and guided him to their own bedroom. Once Hwanwoong was comfortable, he got changed and climbed into bed next to him.

Hwanwoong was all too happy to settle down with his head on Seoho’s chest. The last twenty-four hours had been a nightmarish whirlwind and he was glad it was over. 

Seoho kissed the top of Hwanwoong’s head. “Get some rest, love. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he said softly. Downstairs, Geonhak was starting to get hungry and he was trying to force himself to go upstairs and find Keonhee but he couldn’t do it. 

Youngjo knew that they had been told not to wander, but with Seoho preoccupied, he figured it would be safe to go down and get some water. He wasn’t surprised to see Geonhak sitting on the enclosed porch. 

Geonhak tensed up when he heard footsteps. He couldn’t tell who it was but he shifted so he was sitting more in the shadows, hoping whoever it was didn’t notice him. 

“Are you feeling better than you were this morning?” Youngjo asked, walking toward Geonhak. He felt obligated to check up on the fledgling. 

Geonhak relaxed considerably when he realized it was just Youngjo. “Yeah I am. Thanks for checking in,” he said quietly, “is Dongju doing okay?”

“He is,” Youngjo said, “I think he really likes Hwanwoong, which is cute. You gonna come up and feed before Keonhee falls asleep?”

Geonhak’s small smile slipped off his face. “I don’t think so. I’m okay for now and he hasn’t really eaten anything himself since we got here,” he said. 

“I’ll bring him something to eat and then you need to feed,” Youngjo said, “we’re not letting you starve again.”

“I’ll be okay for the night. I’d rather sit out here anyway and come up when it gets light out. I promise I won’t starve and I promise I’ll come up before it gets bad,” Geonhak said. 

“Geonhak,” Youngjo said, “I can have him come down if you want but I’m not going to bed until you feed.”

Geonhak slumped. “No, I’ll come up now,” he said. He reluctantly stood up and followed Youngjo into the house. He felt like a child but he had to keep reminding himself that this was for his own good. 

Youngjo led Geonhak up the stairs and down to his room. Keonhee was still up when he opened the door and seemed relieved to see Geonhak.

Geonhak stood in the doorway for a minute. “Come here. I know you’re getting hungry,” Keonhee said. He had learned very quickly to recognize the look in Geonhak’s eyes. “But you haven’t eaten yet,” the fledgling said quietly. “No, but if you only eat a little, it’ll be okay,” Keonhee assured. Geonhak hesitantly made his way over to the bed.

“I’m gonna go get you some food, Keonhee,” Youngjo said, leaving and closing the door behind him. 

Geonhak went to sit on the edge of the bed but Keonhee stopped him. “If you wait much longer, we’re going to run into a problem. Please just have a little now and if you’re still hungry, you can have some more after I’ve eaten,” he said, “I’m really okay, I promise.” Geonhak reluctantly moved to the other side of the bed. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Keonhee’s arm and raised the man’s wrist to his lips. This was going to be his new reality with feeding and he still couldn’t imagine eating consistently, but he just kept telling himself it would hurt Keonhee less. He pulled away and licked over the wound when he heard Youngjo coming back up the stairs. He glanced up at Keonhee nervously but the man looked perfectly fine. 

Youngjo knocked on the door and entered with a bowl of porridge and some water. “This is all that’s down there,” he said apologetically, “I’m going to try and get some money from Hwanwoong for groceries tomorrow.”

“I heard Hwanwoong mention something about you going to get food tomorrow but I didn’t catch the whole thing,” Geonhak admitted. “This is fine. It’s food and it’s more consistent than what I’m used to,” Keonhee said. He took the bowl gratefully and shot Geonhak an “I’m fine” look. 

“Hopefully, I can get some meat or something to really feed us well,” Youngjo said, “I know all this porridge isn’t good for Dongju either, so I hope I can get enough from Hwanwoong to really stock up.”

“I still have some of the money Hwanwoong gave me when I left too,” Geonhak said. He stood up to retrieve the coin purse out of his jacket pocket. “He told me they had more than enough money so I’m sure it’ll be enough to feed you. If not, we’ll figure something out.”

“Oh, I’m sure they have more than enough, but who knows how much they’ll give me,” Youngjo said. 

“Hwanwoong seems to be a lot friendlier now so I’m sure it won’t be a problem,” Geonhak said, “it’s not like they really need it for anything anyway.”

“I doubt that he’s in charge of any finances though,” Youngjo said, “anyway, I need to get back to the kiddo so I’ll leave you two.”

“Goodnight, Youngjo,” Geonhak said. When the door closed, he turned his attention back to Keonhee. “If you ask me if I’m okay, I’m going to smack you,” Keonhee said before the fledgling could even open his mouth. “Do you want to feed a little more?” Geonhak shook his head. “Not today. It’s weird being completely in control when I eat,” he admitted, “I think it’s gonna take a while to get used to doing this consistently.”

Youngjo was glad that Dongju was still asleep when he got back into the bedroom. He didn’t want the boy to wake up alone and think something had happened to him.

Seoho waited until Hwanwoong was well asleep before carefully slipping out of bed and going to find Youngjo. If they could at least come to a mutual agreement to be civil before Hwanwoong woke up, he’d be happy.

Youngjo was surprised when the door opened and Seoho was there. “I didn’t do anything,” he said automatically, before realizing what the vampire was probably there for. “Let’s go in the hall for this, please.”

Seoho chuckled in amusement “I’m not here to feed, I’m here to talk,” he said, “Hwanwoong wants us to figure out something so I wanted to propose that we simply live together civilly.”

“I mean...yeah,” Youngjo said, a little confused, “that’s always been my plan at least. I’m not here to destroy your life and be an asshole.”

“That certainly wasn’t how you felt when you left here,” Seoho said, “and I want to make it very clear that I am not happy that you threatened my boyfriend and I’m warning you now if you do it again, you and your son will regret it.”

“Do I need to remind you how you literally kidnapped my child?” Youngjo asked, “I think we can both agree that my reaction was perfectly justified and that we can put all of that behind us.”

“As long as it doesn’t happen again,” Seoho agreed, “if there’s anything that you need, it’ll probably be better for you to go through Hwanwoong. The only thing I can really help you with is if Geonhak gets out of hand but he seems to be okay so far.”

“I did want to ask about getting some money for groceries,” Youngjo said, “there’s only porridge downstairs and that’s not going to be enough to keep myself or Keonhee healthy or Dongju growing.”

Seoho nodded. “Hwanwoong knows much more than I do about food but any money you need is yours. We certainly have no use for it and even I know you can’t live off of porridge,” he said. 

“Thank you,” Youngjo said with a nod, “and I’m sure you overheard before, but my given name is Youngjo. I’d much prefer that over the highway name I gave you before.”

“That’s a nice name,” Seoho said politely, “it suits you much better than Ravn.” He paused for a moment. “I truly didn’t want to make your life hell and if you are serious about staying here long term, I don’t want you to be miserable.”

“I was acting rashly the other night when I decided to leave,” Youngjo admitted, “despite Geonhak’s current predicament, this really is the safest place for myself and Dongju to be. If I had actually gotten home to him that night, I’d be raising him a highwayman and that’s the last thing I want to do. I really am grateful, and I’m here if you ever get tired of hunting.”

“I appreciate that but I’m okay. It’s Hwanwoong that really needs someone here so he can feed regularly,” Seoho said, “and if Geonhak has his human, he shouldn’t be drawn to the child at all. But both Hwanwoong and I are prepared to step in if anything like that happens.”

“Everyone is welcome to play with Dongju and spend time with him,” Youngjo said, “I just don’t want him around any feedings. Hopefully that should minimize any risk.”

“Children aren’t really my forte but I’m sure Hwanwoong will more than take you up on that,” Seoho said quickly, “and you make the rules for him. He doesn’t have to know anything you don’t want him to.”

“I just want him to have as normal of a childhood as possible,” Youngjo said with a sigh, “and if that means a bunch of immortal kind-of uncles, so be it.”

Seoho’s eyes widened. “Uncles? Oh, that’s...cute,” he said uncertainly, “I’m sure Hwanwoong will love that but I’ll save it for you to tell him when he wakes up.”

“It’ll all come in time, I’m sure,” Youngjo said, “but I’m glad we could come to an agreement.”

“Me too,” Seoho said with a nod, “I’m sure you’re exhausted. I’ll let you get some rest and we’ll make sure you have enough money to get some food tomorrow.”

Youngjo nodded and thanked Seoho again. Hopefully, this meant better days were coming for all of them. 

Seoho returned to his own room and carefully climbed back into bed. He laid down next to Hwanwoong and wrapped his boyfriend in his arms.

“Everything good?” Hwanwoong asked sleepily. When he felt Seoho nod, he settled back down. Everything was good.


End file.
